Definition

1. Verb:
   • To send something to a person or place, typically for sale or safekeeping: The core meaning involves transferring goods or items to someone's custody, often with a formal or commercial purpose.
   • To assign or deliver something into the care or possession of another: This meaning focuses on entrusting something or someone to another party's responsibility.
   • To commit decisively or permanently: A more figurative sense, meaning to assign to a particular state, fate, or course, often one that is unavoidable.

Usage and Examples

• Verb:
  • The manufacturer will consign the new shipment to our warehouse. (This shows sending goods to a specific location.)
  • She decided to consign her old furniture to a local auction house. (This illustrates giving items to an agent for sale.)
  • The court consigned the child to the custody of her grandparents. (This demonstrates entrusting a person to someone's care.)
  • With that mistake, he consigned the project to failure. (This is a figurative use, meaning to commit to an unfortunate outcome.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be consigned to oblivion/history": To be permanently forgotten or relegated to the past.
  • Many old traditions have been consigned to history.
• "to consign something to the flames": To deliberately burn or destroy something.
  • He consigned the incriminating letters to the flames.

Variants and Related Words

• Consignment (n): A batch of goods sent or delivered, especially for sale.
  • The store sells clothing on consignment.
• Consignee (n): The person or place to which something is consigned.
• Consignor (n): The person or company that consigns goods.

Synonyms

• Entrust: To assign the responsibility for something to someone.
• Commit: To pledge or assign to a particular course or outcome.
• Deliver: To bring and hand over something.
• Transfer: To move something from one place or person to another.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

(Note: "Consign" is not commonly used with particles to form phrasal verbs. Its meaning is typically conveyed directly or with prepositional phrases like "consign to.") - Consign to: This is the standard construction used with the verb. - They consigned the defective products to the scrap heap.

Related Idioms

• Consigned to the scrapheap: Thrown away as useless; discarded.
  • The old manufacturing method was consigned to the scrapheap.

Verb

1. send to an address
2. give over to another for care or safekeeping
   • consign your baggage
3. commit forever; commit irrevocably