airmailn.
/ˈɛːmeɪl/, U.S. /ˈɛrˌmeɪl/ 1.
a. Mail conveyed by air; a service for conveying letters, parcels, etc., by air.
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society > communication > correspondence > postal services > [noun] > types of service > conveyance of mail by air
balloon post1870
airmail1911
1911 Times 11 Sept. 6/3 The ‘Royal Air Mail’ flying from Hendon to Windsor,..began its service on Saturday.
1928 Post Office Guide July 55 A special Blue Air Mail label should be affixed to the top left hand corner of every Air Mail packet.
1941 Pop. Sci. Monthly July 95/2 When air mail must be carried on the final lap of its journey by train or truck, the loss of time is serious.
1975 A. McCaffrey Kilternan Legacy (1976) xv. 180 All from Ameriky, I see. All airmail. Desperate the cost of stamps, isn't it?
1994 Sat. Night (Toronto) Nov. 24/3 There will be three postpersons to service every delivery route: one to handle airmail, another to tend to domestic letters, and a third to lug parcels.
b. As a count noun: a consignment of mail conveyed by air; (also) = air letter n. at air n.1 Compounds 2.
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society > communication > correspondence > letter > [noun] > letters, etc., by method of dispatch or conveyance
post-letter1648
ship-letterc1675
by-letter1685
penny-post letter1686
way letter1710
by-night1766
cross-letter1789
twopenny1818
box letter1827
non-paid1829
balloon-letter1870
pigeongram1875
railway letter1891
pneumatogram1894
airmail1918
aerogram1919
airgram1919
air letter1920
pneumatique1924
pneu1926
snail mail1929
aerogramme1934
airgraph1941
1918 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 20 May 2/1 (headline) Two air mails daily. Planning to extend service and make delivery more sure.
1949 K. Ferrier Let. 17 Mar. (2003) iii. 63 Your airmail written on the 6th March has only just reached me this morning.
1957 P. White Let. 1 May (1994) v. 117 When there are three or four air mails a week from Greece, I don't know why the letters should arrive in lumps and after such delays.
1998 C. L. Christman Lost in Victory 50 Connie's mother had faithfully written her husband.., sending him two V-mails and two airmails every night.
2. Also with capital initial. Philately. A postage stamp authorizing conveyance of mail by air.
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society > communication > correspondence > postal services > payment for postage > [noun] > postage stamp > types of
black1863
penny black1863
local1865
error1866
toadskin1867
fiscal1869
imperforate1874
tête-bêche1874
halfpenny1881
provisional1885
British colonial1902
precancel1903
definitive1929
airmail1930
pictorial1934
perfin1945
1930 Winnipeg Free Press 25 Oct. (Girls & Boys section) 7/4 I have a wonderful collection of 16 hundred stamps.., and now I am after the Canada airmails which came out awhile [sic] ago.
1940 Amer. Boy Feb. 24/1 (advt.) My big 5c packet will please you. It's chucked full of Airmails, British Colonies, Commemoratives.
1992 Gibbons Stamp Monthly Mar. 5/2 Articles covering the whole field of US philately, from modern commemoratives,..to first day covers, airmails, precancels and revenues.
2004 Stamp Mag. Aug. 46/2 The original issue of the 1947 Airmail was evidently not engraved by a French speaker.
Compounds
C1. attributive. Designating a thin type of paper intended for dispatch by airmail, as airmail paper, airmail stationery, etc.
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society > communication > writing > writing materials > [noun]
pen and inkc1500
pen and inkhorn1583
stationery1727
airmail stationery1933
society > communication > writing > writing materials > material to write on > paper > [noun] > paper for correspondence > types of
mourning paper1635
bank paper1696
bank post1801
foreign1825
Bath-post1837
bill-head1845
mourning notepaper1846
vellum post1847
bond papera1877
correspondence card1892
notehead1892
airmail paper1933
letterhead1939
notelet1955
bluey1989
1933 Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica) 14 June 3/6 (advt.) We have in stock a complete range of Air Mail Stationery:..Air Mail Paper—25 Sheets.
1949 S. J. Perelman Let. 16 Feb. in Don't tread on Me (1987) 87 Damn and blast this sleazy airmail stationery; when you feed it back into the typewriter, it inevitably rips, ladders, and runs.
1974 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 23 Jan. 23/7 We use air mail paper and large envelopes, because sometimes the letter will get a little on the heavy side.
1997 P. Pullman Subtle Knife (1998) vii. 162 He sat on the terrace..and read the clear handwriting on the flimsy airmail sheets, trying to picture the man who'd penned it.
C2.
airmail edition n. = air edition n. at air n.1 Compounds 2.
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society > communication > journalism > journal > newspaper > [noun] > editions of newspaper
special edition1845
library edition1869
extra-special1889
airmail edition1923
bulldog edition1926
final1931
air edition1939
1923 Daily Oklahoman 18 June 1 (heading) Air mail edition.
1958 Times 14 June 8/7 Among the exhibits here is a copy of the Air Mail edition of The Times, printed on paper made from Sunn Hemp.
1987 Washington Post (Nexis) 12 Apr. d1 A curious advertisement appeared in the airmail edition of Tehran's semi-official Kayhan daily, the edition most likely to be read by Iranians living abroad.
2002 Evening News (Edinb.) 10 Dec. 11 Imagine Saddam having a right old giggle reading this when his airmail edition of the Evening News reaches his palace.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
airmailv.
/ˈɛːmeɪl/, U.S. /ˈɛrˌmeɪl/ 1. transitive. To send (a letter, parcel, etc.) by airmail.
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1919 Daily Mail 9 Oct. 4/3 It will be possible to get a reply, by tea-time, to a letter airmailed to Paris after breakfast.
1963 P. M. Sweezy Let. 26 Apr. in Monthly Rev. Oct. (2004) 97 He will airmail you one set [of proofs] right away and it ought to reach you at about the same time as this letter.
1996 Cycle Touring & Campaigning Apr.–May 27/2 Tick the..box if you want the Cyclists' Yellow Pages catalogue... Airmail your order.
2. transitive. Sport (originally and chiefly North American). To hit, throw, or kick (a ball, etc.) into the air, esp. excessively high and far. Also: to overshoot (a target).
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1938 Iowa City Press-Citizen 24 Oct. 12/8 Missouri's great sophomore passer..delivered the ball personally over the goal twice instead of airmailing it.
1973 Northwest Arkansas Times 13 Oct. 7/4 Bowell airmailed the end line of the end zone with his kickoff.
1995 Denver Post 21 Aug. c8/5 [He] tried to throw his ball into the crowd as a souvenir, but air-mailed it over their heads.
2006 Irish Times (Nexis) 27 Mar. An untimely gust of helping wind..meant he airmailed the green and took a double-bogey five.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1911
v.1919