# send to Coventry

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/send-to-coventry
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

To ostracize, or systematically ignore someone.

## Examples

- The team decided to send him to Coventry after his mistake.
- The neighbors send her to Coventry because she is always very rude.
- Because he broke the office rules, his coworkers decided to send him to Coventry and stopped speaking to him entirely.
- If you share private secrets about your friends, they might send you to Coventry for the rest of the school year.
- After he refused to join the strike, the other factory workers sent him to Coventry by refusing to sit with him during lunch.
- Following the public scandal, the board members chose to send him to Coventry, effectively isolating him from all future decision-making processes within the organization.

## Origin

Some believe that the phrase dates from the English Civil War, when a military prison was located in that city. Others say it dates from the 18th century, when Coventry was the nearest town to London that lay outside the jurisdiction of the Bow Street Runners and so London criminals would flee to Coventry to escape arrest.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.