fax

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A copy of a document sent by phone line to a machine that prints it out at the other end.

   Grammar: Countable for each message: send a fax.

   Patterns

   • send someone a fax
   • a fax from someone

   I'll send you a fax with the contract details.

   A fax arrived from the head office this morning.

   The clinic still accepts forms by fax.

2. 2nouncountable

   The machine that sends and receives such documents.

   Grammar: Often called a fax machine.

   Patterns

   • on the fax

   The old fax in the corner jammed again.

   Our office finally threw out the fax.

   He fed the pages into the fax one by one.

3. 3verbtransitive

   To send a document to someone by fax.

   Grammar: Takes an object: fax the form, fax someone the form.

   Patterns

   • fax something to someone
   • fax someone something

   Could you fax the signed form to my lawyer?

   She faxed the report before the deadline.

   The bank asked him to fax a copy of his ID.

Word forms

Common combinations

fax machine

The fax machine beeped and printed three pages.

fax number

Please give me your fax number.

send a fax

I need to send a fax to the insurance company.

by fax

Orders can be placed by fax or phone.

fax cover sheet

Don't forget the fax cover sheet.

Synonyms and how they differ

telefax

Telefax is a rarer, formal variant of fax found in older business writing.

email

Email sends digital text and attachments over the internet, while a fax is an image of paper sent over a phone line.

transmit

Transmit is a general word for sending anything, not specific to fax.

Word family

facsimile noun

an exact copy, the long form of fax

faxed adjective

sent by fax

e-fax noun

a fax sent or received over the internet

Commonly confused: fax or facts?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “fax”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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