From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmessagemes‧sage1 /ˈmesɪdʒ/ ●●● S1 W2 noun [countable] 1 MESSAGEa spoken or written piece of information that you send to another person or leave for themmessage from There’s a message from Karen on the answerphone.message for I have an urgent message for you. He left a message saying he would probably be a little late.2 [usually singular]IDEA the main or most important idea that someone is trying to tell people about in a film, book, speech etc The message of the film is that good always triumphs over evil. The result of this legal battle sends an important message to people in similar situations. It’s perfectly possible to get your message across (=communicate what you want to say) without being so angry. They use illustrations to convey their message.3 → get the message4 a piece of written information which appears on a computer screen to tell the user about something, especially a problemerror/warning message I keep getting an error message when I try to log on.5 → on/off message6 → keep/stick to the messageCOLLOCATIONSverbsget a message (also receive a message formal)Didn’t you get my message?send a messageMy mum just sent me a text message.leave a message (=write or say something that the person will receive later)Please leave a message after the beep.take a message (=write down a message from someone for someone else)Ellen isn’t here. Can I take a message?give somebody a message (=from someone else)Just give him the message.pass on/relay/deliver a message (=give someone a message from someone else)I asked Rob if he would pass on a message for me.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + messagean urgent/important messagean urgent message for the commanding officera brief/short messageShe left a short message on his answering machine.a personal messageIt was a personal message from Thomas.a telephone/phone message (=a message that someone has written down for you from a phone call)There was a telephone message for her to call Harbury.a text message (=a written message that you receive on your mobile phone)Her phone kept beeping whenever she got a text message.an email/mail message (=a message that you receive by email)Just send me an email message to let me know what time.a secret messagea secret message written in lemon juicephrasesa message of support/sympathy/congratulations etcOther celebrities sent messages of support.
Examples from the Corpus
message• Where's Dick? I've got a message for him.• "What is it?" "A message from the hospital. Harry's worse."• I'm sorry, Mr Banks isn't here right now. Would you like to leave a message?• But the programs featured a variety of themes and methods and were not consistent in advocating abstinence as the central message.• The latest management fashion brings a different message.• One was that their writers eliminate industry jargon that transformed an everyday message into a threat.• He says he has received many messages of support from the public.• Did you get my message?• I hope Frank got my message that I was going to be late.• Users just have to click an on-screen button to encrypt an outgoing message.• Joseph was alarmed by Monteith's message, and bewildered that he could have been so misunderstood at the previous council.• Fon somehow understood that the ancient rhythms of the words soothed Katherine as much as the message behind them.• The person offering the communication is, of course, just as much part of the message as the words that are uttered.• The message was delivered in eight days, starting in Houston before arriving at its final destination of Los Angeles.• When I got home, there were two messages on my answering machine.convey ... message• The whole body may be conveying a message.• Yet the rich nuances of the voice clearly convey the message none the less.• Put the side levers to O, conveying the message that you now want all the stitches to knit.• But whatever the degree of accuracy, they convey a global message completely at variance with the party's narrow patriotism.• Migliore was clearly eager to convey the message that all would now be well, according to Orr.• Paul Manville had to be given his due - he could not have chosen a more apt record to convey his message.• A speaker can use the very same sentence to convey quite different messages depending on the context.error/warning message• Such reservations include a warning message, flagging of the citing field or a setting of the citing field to null.• If no definition has been made, a warning message will appear on the status line.• We got an error message, indicating there was no dial tone.• If not, an error message is printed.• Write down any error messages you see, no matter how cryptic.• Many who signed on later in the day were turned away with blank screens or error messages.• The error messages will provide the most helpful clues for tracking elusive addresses.• Disapproval would at first enrage and then devastate him, and these warning messages apparently arrived visually.messagemessage2 verb [intransitive, transitive] to send a text message or another electronic message, for example a message on a social networking site You can message several people at once.Origin message (1200-1300) Old French Medieval Latin missaticum, from Latin mittere “to send” 