send someone packing

present singular third person sends someone packing · participle present sending someone packing · participle past sent someone packing · past sent someone packing

1. idiomaticinformalTo expel, eject, or dismiss someone; to send away, chase off, or force out; (from a job or employment position) to fire.

   [T]he parliament, to their immortal honour, presently sent him packing.

   c. 1695, Dr. Robert South, “To Archbishop of Dublin”, in Sermons, Vol. III

   4 more examples

   Two ladies called one day, pale and anxious, and begged earnestly, humbly, to be allowed to see Mr. Moore one instant: Mrs. Yorke hardened her heart, and sent them packing,—not without opprobrium.

   1849, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “The Schoolboy and the Wood-Nymph”, in Shirley. A Tale. […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, page 203

   "Monsieur, you and yours are not for me. Seek elsewhere." . . . "You send me packing!" he blurted out, getting red in the face.

   1904, Gilbert Parker, chapter 2, in Michel and Angele

   Sinkfield reduced his guests to myopic drunkenness one evening, induced them to bring forward their maps and charts, lop off a little here, add a bit there, and adjust the center of the county to meet his requirements. He sent them packing next day armed with their charts and five quarts of shinny in their saddlebags—two apiece and one for the Governor.

   1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC

   [L]eague authorities sent him packing after ruling he was registered with a fake Dominican passport under circumstances that remain murky.

   2014 June 14, Anne Marie Garcia, “Cuba ballplayers chase dreams, big bucks, overseas”, in Businessweek, retrieved 08 Jul 2014

   Synonyms: hand someone his hat, send about one's business