See Also: errand(dictionary)
errand(dictionary)

errand (iou)



errand noun.

a. A message, a verbal communication to be repeated to a third party. OE-M18.
R. Stanyhurst Tel your King, from me, this errand.
b. spec. in Christian Church. A petition or prayer presented through a saint. ME.
a. A journey made for a special purpose; an expedition, a mission. Now arch. & rhet. OE.
b. A short journey on which a person is sent to take a message, collect goods, or perform some similar small task. M17.
V. Glendinning The oddest errand...To buy a dressing-gown for a nun. C. Chaplin I was made to..run errands and do odd jobs. I. Compton-Burnett Can I write letters, or go on errands?
The business on which a person goes or is sent; the object of a journey. ME.
W. Paley The errand which brought him to Jerusalem.
Phrases: errand of mercy a journey to give help or relieve distress. fool's errand a pointless undertaking. make an errand (a) make a short journey; (b) find a pretext for going.
Comb.: errand-boy, errand-girl: whose job is to run errands, esp. (formerly) for a shopkeeper.