post officen.

Brit.

/ˈpəʊst ɒfɪs/, U.S.

/ˈpoʊst ˌɔfəs/,

/ˈpoʊst ˌɑfəs/

Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: post n.³, office n.

Etymology: < post n.³ + office n. Compare earlier letter office n. at letter n.¹ Compounds 2.

1. (Usually with capital initials.) The public department or corporation responsible for the collection, transmission, and distribution of letters, parcels, etc., by post, and, in later use, for other services, such as (in some countries) telecommunications.Formerly also: †the office of the master of the posts, or postmaster general (obsolete).In many instances it is difficult to separate this sense from the local branch or the headquarters of the department: see sense 2.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > correspondence > postal services > [noun] > public department providing

Foreign Office1646

post office1652

post1663

post office department1782

P.O.1824

letter-house1832

1652 Orig. Jrnls. House of Commons 19 Oct. 37 124 M^r Benjamin Moore, and M^r W^m Jessops claime to the fforeigne post office.

1657 in H. Scobell Acts & Ordin. Parl. (1658) c. 30. 512 From henceforth there be one General Office, to be called and known by the name of the Post-Office of England; and one Officer..nominated and appointed..under the Name and Stile of Postmaster-General of England, and Comptroller of the Post-Office.

1705 Duke of Marlborough Let. 9 July in H. L. Snyder Marlborough–Godolphin Corr. (1975) I. 455 I am very confident the Post Office can never find a man more willing nor dilligenter then Van der Pool.

1738–9 King in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 223 The ill-treatment I received from the post-office; for some time I did not receive a letter that had not been opened.

1804 Bp. of Lincoln in G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 94 Lord Charles Spencer will..resign the Post-Office.

1845 B. Disraeli Sybil I. ii. xv. 291 The king granted the duke and his heirs for ever, a pension on the post-office.

1875 A. Trollope Prime Minister (1876) I. vii. 103 Sir Orlando Draught, should be asked to put up with the Post-office or..remain at the Colonies.

1893 H. Joyce Hist. Post Office vi. 46 The headquarters of the Post Office were at this time [1690] in Lombard Street. Here the postmasters-general resided.

1941 Engineer 2 May 296 To meet the need for cheapening and expediting homeward postal communication from the British Forces in the Middle East, the Post Office is introducing an airgraph service.

1995 Canad. Forum Apr. 11/1 The dramatic cuts New Zealand has made in government spending over the last decade, slashing social programs..and privatizing just about everything the government owned, including the post office and the national airline.

a. A building or room where postal business is carried on; a branch of the Post Office.Now commonly applied to both the central office of a town, etc., (frequently with the), and to local branches and sub-offices which sell stamps, receive items for posting, and conduct minor Post Office business.Earlier in General Post Office n.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > correspondence > postal services > [noun] > post office

letter office1635

post-house1635

post office1659

post hut1753

post-shed1753

P.O.1824

station1845

post1848

1659 Mercurius Politicus No. 563. 379 The Propositions at the Polish Dyet at Warsovia, March 20... 12. To raise meanes to keep up the Post-Offices.

1660 Act 12 Chas. II c. 35 §1 Whereas for the..prevention of many Inconveniences happening by private Posts severall publique Post Offices have beene heretofore erected..To the end thereof that the same may be managed soe that speedy and safe dispatches may be had, which is most likely to be effected by erecting one Generall Post Office... Be it therefore enacted..that there be from henceforth one Generall Letter Office erected and established in some convenient place within the Citty of London from whence all Letters..may be with speede..sent unto any part of the Kingdomes of England, Scotland and Ireland [etc.].

1679 T. Oates True Narr. Horrid Plot 46 Some of which [sc. Letters] were delivered to the Post-office in Russel-street; others to the Post-office General.

1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 19. ⁋2 I have..looked over every Letter in the Post-Office for my better Information.

1725 R. Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 196 You do not expect I should write a detail, since I behoved to take dinner, and at eight the post-office closes.

1779 M. Robertson Let. 19 Nov. in John Norton & Sons (1968) 428 Be kind Enough to write me your opinion by return of Post directed to this place at the Post office at Falmo, and Plymo.

1801 M. Edgeworth Angelina ii, in Moral Tales II. 38 She actually discovered, that there was a postoffice at Cardiffe.

1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xii. 90 Money was waiting for me at the post-office in Geneva.

1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset II. lix. 168 She well remembered the number of the post-office in the Edgeware Road.

1926 R. Macaulay Crewe Train ii. xii. 211 She purchased a packet of notepaper and envelopes and a pencil (H.H.) at the post office.

1994 J. Kelman How Late it Was 80 The post office was along the left-hand side of the big square as ye came out the exit.

b. slang. Esp. in espionage: a person who receives information and either transmits it or holds it for collection; (also) = drop n. 17d.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > information > action of informing > [noun] > one to whom information is given

intelligent1508

participant1639

post office1885

the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > [noun] > information exchange > collector or transmitter

courier1703

post office1885

society > communication > information > message > [noun] > place where message can be left

post office1965

the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > [noun] > information exchange

letterbox1940

drop1959

treff1963

post office1965

1885 E. W. Hamilton Diary 12 Apr. (1972) II. 835 M. Lessar suggests that Brett should be asked to be the post office of the Russian Embassy. Accordingly, Lessar goes to Brett, and hands him a Memorandum... Brett forwards the Memorandum here.

1919 J. Buchan Mr. Standfast vii. 148 I had got precisely what Blenkiron wanted, a post office for the enemy... I could see the juiciest lies passing that way to the Grosses Hauptquartier.

1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 90/2 Post office, a person who receives or delivers letters to crooks.

1945 Tee Emm (Air Ministry) 5 55 Beware of becoming a ‘post office’, simply passing on everything that comes in, happy in the knowledge that there is a higher authority behind you.

1965 D. Williams Not in Public Interest vii. 133 It became evident in 1911 that the hairdresser's shop of Karl Gustav Ernst was being used as a ‘post office’ or clearing-house for German espionage agents in this country.

1974 T. Allbeury Snowball iv. 20 Just a low-grade courier, a dead letterbox and a post office.

3. Chiefly U.S. Applied to various parlour games, esp. one in which the participants take it in turns to deliver letters which are paid for by kisses. Cf. postman's knock n. 2.The sense in quot. 1851 is uncertain.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > parlour and party games > [noun] > postman's knock

post office1851

postman's knock1894

1851 J. H. Green Twelve Days in Tombs 157 How often have the professors of Christianity violated all moral principles in the..game of Post-office, where we find stationed some beautiful sister as post mistress, whose duty it is to write the names of those from whom she thinks she can secure the postage.

1855 Quincy (Calif.) Prospector 31 Mar. 2/1 We are astonished to see men and women who are looked upon as samples for the rising generation, join in such childish plays as..‘Post office’, &c.

1899 Amer. Physical Educ. Rev. 361 Those who select love games are at the dawn of adolescence. ‘Drop-the-handkerchief’ and ‘post-office’ are the two favorites of this group.

1914 B. Tarkington in Cosmopolitan Mar. 489/2 ‘We'd have been playing “Quaker meeting”, “clap in, clap out”, or “going to Jerusalem”, I suppose.’ ‘Yes, or “post-office” and “drop the handkerchief”,’ said Mrs. Schofield.

1949 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 12 Mar. 60/3 After a time this palled and they played Post Office.

1989 R. MacNeil Wordstruck iv. 93 That was our attitude when we played Post Office or Spin the Bottle with Godfrey's sister.

Compounds

C1.

a. General attributive, as post-office clerk, post-office counter, post-office window, etc.

ΚΠ

1708 Boston News-let. 15 Mar. 2/2 A little Board hanging out at the Post-Office Window.

1778 F. Burney Evelina III. v. 59 The post-office people will let us know if they hear of him.

1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) ii. 16 Mrs. Tomlinson, the post-office keeper, seemed..to have been chosen the leader of the trade party.

1866 J. Rees Foot-prints 326 Reed was an old post-office clerk, who..had been in the office for twenty odd years.

1891 ‘Phil’ Penny Postage Jubilee ix. 156 It was not an uncommon practice of the post-office servants to mark the postage on the envelope with pen and red ink.

1893 H. Joyce Hist. Post Office vi. 44 Out of London, the Post Office servants remained [in 1690] much as they had been ten years before, at about 239 in number, of whom all but twelve were postmasters.

1923 Glasgow Herald 10 Oct. 7/1 Licenceless owners will make themselves liable to prosecution if discovered by the Post Office inspectors.

1976 Computing Europe 2 Sept. 5/2 There are a lot of Post Office employees and..at least some of them can have criminal inclinations.

1989 V. Singh Jaya Ganga 58 ‘Oh! Oh! Impossible! Incorrigible,’ the man screamed in anger, ‘you mean that bloody postoffice clerk has still not found his ten gram weight!’

1993 Guardian 18 Sept. 33/3 A large proportion of the ‘unbanked’ rely on state benefits, cashing their giros at post office counters.

b. Used in the names of colours associated with various Post Office services, as post office green, post office red, post office yellow.

ΚΠ

1930 Times Educ. Suppl. 18 Jan. (Suppl.) p. iv/2 Red offers a fertile field for flights of descriptive fancy... Post Office red, and sealing wax red may be hackneyed words, but their tone is not in doubt.

1963 Ophthalmic Optician 20 Apr. 408/1 If the hole exposes telephone services and cables, the perimeter will be lined with machinery painted in Post Office green.

1976 Scotsman 15 Dec. 14/3 (advt.) The Telecommunications showroom..is decorated internally in Post Office yellow, with relief panels throughout in silver.

1998 Boston Globe (Nexis) 1 Nov. 1 Weary of graffiti on mailboxes in his neighborhood, and with the permission of the local postmaster, Dukakis bought cans of ‘post office blue’ and ‘post office green’ paint.

2004 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 22 July 2 The locomotive is Post Office red with a silver smoke box and boiler.

C2.

post-office address n. a postal address.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > correspondence > sending items > [noun] > addressing letter > address

superscription1464

direction1586

superscript1598

address1622

inscription1741

home address1847

post-office address1849

1849 Sci. Amer. 24 Mar. 215/3 My Post Office address is..Hiram Munger, Manchester, N. H.

1901 Tribune (Chicago) 16 Feb. Give postoffice address in full.

1986 Amer. Math. Monthly 93 821 The solver's full post-office address should be on each sheet.

post-office annuity n. an annuity system organized by and purchased through the post office.

ΚΠ

1818 Times 25 Dec. 3/2 The act, with respect to the Post-office annuity, was a public act.

1897 Polit. Sci. Q. 12 723 We can, with equal ease, draw up a list of those that make him a better Christian, a pleasanter companion, a more interesting personality, without landing him in a house of his own or a post-office annuity.

1986 Jrnl. Commerce (Nexis) 4 Nov. 11 a The Japanese Post Office Life Insurance and Post Office Annuities Fund has accredited S.G. Warburg & Co. as a securities dealer.

post office box n. (a) a private box or pigeonhole at a post office assigned to a person or organization, where letters are kept until called for; (b) = post-office bridge n.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > correspondence > postal services > [noun] > place where letters, etc., may be collected > post office or newspaper box

box1804

call box1826

post office box1836

P.O. Box1846

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > resistance > [noun] > instrument used in measuring > in form of bridge

bridge1865

Wheatstone bridge1865

wire bridge1880

post-office bridge1890

post office box1894

Kelvin double bridge1896

Maxwell bridge1907

1836 N.-Y. Mirror 9 July 11/2 Applications through Post-Office Box, five hundred and fifty-nine.

1894 W. A. Price Measurement Electr. Resistance 81 Bridge ratios of 1000 and ·001 are available in addition to those in the Post Office box.

1914 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 6th Ser. 28 470 The resistances of the films of low resistance were measured by a post-office box in the ordinary way.

1965 G. A. G. Bennet Electr. & Mod. Physics viii. 129/2 A Wheatstone type network is connected up as shown..with the galvanometer as one of the four resistances; a Post Office box would be suitable for this purpose.

1992 R. Rankin Brentford Triangle (BNC) 92 No doubt he will wish to have the money orders forwarded to some post-office box in West Ealing.

post-office bridge n. a portable, self-contained form of Wheatstone bridge containing a large number of electrical resistors which are selected by means of plugs.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > resistance > [noun] > instrument used in measuring > in form of bridge

bridge1865

Wheatstone bridge1865

wire bridge1880

post-office bridge1890

post office box1894

Kelvin double bridge1896

Maxwell bridge1907

1890 Proc. Royal Soc. 48 508 The resistance used in the Post office bridge was about 200 ohms, while that of the main circuit was about 10 ohms, so that the amount of current shunted was comparatively small.

1931 W. L. Upson Electr. Lab. Stud. iii. 45 There is a second form of Wheatstone bridge known as the ‘post-office bridge’. In this type there is no wire giving wide variability to the ratio of B to A, but there are fixed resistance coils so that the ratio may be made 1 to 1, 1 to 10, [etc.].

post-office car n. U.S. (now historical) a mail van or carriage on a train.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > correspondence > postal services > person or vehicle that carries letters or mail > [noun] > vehicle or vessel > railway vehicle

mail coach1838

mail train1839

mail car1842

night mail1842

post-office car1851

mail1862

postal car1864

postal1891

1851 W. S. Bishop Ways & Highways App. 22 Commissioners..shall determine and fix..a fair compensation for the post-office car.

1883 Manch. Examiner 30 Oct. 8/4 There is..in every train..a post-office car, which contains..a letter box, in which letters may be deposited anywhere en route.

2004 Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 3 Oct. h1 The 1930s train, with open gondola car and post-office car—the only one remaining in the United States—makes five stops between Titusville and Rynd Farm.

post office department n. = sense 1.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > correspondence > postal services > [noun] > public department providing

Foreign Office1646

post office1652

post1663

post office department1782

P.O.1824

letter-house1832

1782 Jrnls. Continental Congr. (U.S.) 7 505 Any post-master, post rider, or other person employed in the post office department.

1816 Amer. St. Papers (1834) XV. 50 To investigate the conduct of the General Post Office Department.

1991 D. Harington Choiring of Trees 126 As far as the United States Post Office Department was concerned..the place was named Fallsville.

post office directory n. now chiefly historical a directory published annually by the Post Office and listing alphabetically the residents, tradesmen, businesses, etc., in a particular area, together with their addresses and (latterly) telephone numbers.

ΚΠ

1803 Post-Office Annual Directory: London 3 The Editors of the Post-Office Directory..present their most sincere and grateful Acknowledgements.

1872 (title) The Post Office directory of the grocery & oil & color trades.

1994 New Scientist 16 Apr. 30/9 The following trades were prominent among those listed in the London Post Office directory of 1900: ash collectors, starchers, [etc.].

post office insurance n. (a system of) life insurance purchased through the post office (cf. post-office annuity n.).

ΚΠ

1873 Chambers' Encycl. X. 688/2 Post-Office insurance is a valuable addition to the many useful services the British postal establishment has been enabled to render within the last few years.

1934 Amer. Econ. Rev. 24 545 He discusses the Massachusetts Savings Bank Insurance plan, post-office insurance in England, and Japan, governmental plans in Belgium, Switzerland, Wisconsin, [etc.].

2004 People (Nexis) 3 Oct. 15 [She] suffered multiple fractures after falling from a balcony and faces a 30,000 pounds medical bill. Her Post Office insurance will not pay up because alcohol was involved.

post-office order n. now rare a money order for a specified sum issued upon payment at one post office, and payable at another (named) post office to the person specified in a letter of advice.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > promissory notes or bills of exchange > [noun] > postal order

post bill1740

money order1802

post-office order1815

order1846

P.O.O.1856

PO1861

postal note1862

postal order1864

mandat1896

M.O.1909

postal draft1929

1815 W. Scott Antiquary I. xv, in Waverley Novels V. 208 I hae been sic a fule as to show you the post-office order.

1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. xvii. 160 No Post-office order is in the interim received from Nicodemus Boffin, Esquire.

1906 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-lore 19 261 The treasurer, to whom fees may be paid by post-office order and checks negotiable in Quebec, is M. Alphonse Gagnon.

2004 Times (Nexis) 20 Feb. 25 How is a man on the heights above Sebastopol to send 100 piastres to anybody at Galata? We have no post-office orders here.

post office packet n. now historical a packet-boat carrying mail for the Post Office.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel for transporting people or goods > [noun] > packet or mailboat

post-boat1582

post-bark1599

post1600

post packet1634

packet-boat1642

packeta1670

post office packet1780

packet-ship1782

packet-bark1806

packet steamer1842

sailing-packet1842

mailboat1895

multipacket1965

society > communication > correspondence > postal services > person or vehicle that carries letters or mail > [noun] > vehicle or vessel > vessel

post-boat1582

post packet1634

post office packet1780

mailboat1786

mail steamer1843

mailer1857

mail ship1891

1780 A. Young Tour Ireland i. 342 It is much to be wished, that there were some means of being secure of packets sailing regularly..; with the post-office packets there is this satisfaction.

1855 C. Dickens Holly-tree Inn: Guest in Househ. Words Extra Christmas No. 1/2 The Post-office packet for the United States was to depart from Liverpool.

2003 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 23 July 10 The second was built at Chatham in 1833 as a Post Office packet called Gulnare... She was a 360 ton, 130hp paddle steamer, armed with three guns.

post-office savings-bank n. a bank having branches at local post offices where sums within fixed limits were received on government security at a fixed rate of interest (now historical in the United Kingdom).

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > financial dealings > banking > [noun] > bank > savings bank

saving bank1808

savings bank1813

saving institution1816

savings institution1819

trustee bank1841

penny bank1849

post-office savings-bank1861

1861 Act 24 & 25 Victoria c. 14 Post Office Savings Banks..An Act to grant additional Facilities for depositing small Savings at Interest, with the Security of the Government for due Repayment thereof [17th May 1861]. Whereas it is expedient..to make the General Post Office available for that Purpose.

1936 M. Allingham Flowers for Judge xi. 172 Mr. Campion turned over the battered cardboard-backed book... ‘Post Office Savings Bank?.. Whose is it?’

2004 Liquid Afr. (Nexis) 1 Nov. At building societies and the Post Office Savings Bank.., it [sc. cheque clearance] will take seven working days in Harare and Bulawayo.

post-office savings bank book n. (also post-office savings book) now historical a book in which post-office savings-bank transactions are recorded.

ΘΚΠ

society > trade and finance > management of money > keeping accounts > account or statement of > [noun] > bank book or savings book

bankbook1714

passage-book1816

savings book1826

passbook1828

post-office savings bank book1936

society > trade and finance > financial dealings > banking > [noun] > bank-account > passbook or savings book

bankbook1714

bankers' book1764

passage-book1816

savings book1826

passbook1828

post-office savings bank book1936

1936 M. Allingham Flowers for Judge xviii. 260 One day you find her Post Office Savings Bank-book.

1966 B. Kimenye Kalasanda Revisited 21 His Post Office Savings book boasted the grand total of 600s.

1973 P. Moyes Curious Affair of Third Dog viii. 104 A Post Office savings book showing a balance of some ten pounds.

post-office stamp n. (a) a postage stamp; (b) an official stamp imprinted on a letter, parcel, etc., by the post office, a postmark; (c) the instrument used for stamping this.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > correspondence > postal services > payment for postage > [noun] > postmarking > postmark

stamp1661

postmark1678

post-office stamp1827

obliterator1869

obliteration1881

1827 Amer. State Papers (1834) XV. 304 William J. Stone, for post office stamps, $128·49.

1842 G. Barmby in Promethean Jan. 24/2 Friends in the country..can receive their cards of membership, by applying to the General Secretary, by letter, post-paid, and including three post-office stamps.

1983 Eng. Hist. Rev. 98 422 He ignores the evidence of the post-office stamps which occasionally..give the day and month, though not the year.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	post office
释义	post officen. Brit. /ˈpəʊst ɒfɪs/, U.S. /ˈpoʊst ˌɔfəs/, /ˈpoʊst ˌɑfəs/ Origin: Formed within English, by compounding. Etymons: post n.³, office n. Etymology: < post n.³ + office n. Compare earlier letter office n. at letter n.¹ Compounds 2. 1. (Usually with capital initials.) The public department or corporation responsible for the collection, transmission, and distribution of letters, parcels, etc., by post, and, in later use, for other services, such as (in some countries) telecommunications.Formerly also: †the office of the master of the posts, or postmaster general (obsolete).In many instances it is difficult to separate this sense from the local branch or the headquarters of the department: see sense 2. ΘΚΠ society > communication > correspondence > postal services > [noun] > public department providing Foreign Office1646 post office1652 post1663 post office department1782 P.O.1824 letter-house1832 1652 Orig. Jrnls. House of Commons 19 Oct. 37 124 M^r Benjamin Moore, and M^r W^m Jessops claime to the fforeigne post office. 1657 in H. Scobell Acts & Ordin. Parl. (1658) c. 30. 512 From henceforth there be one General Office, to be called and known by the name of the Post-Office of England; and one Officer..nominated and appointed..under the Name and Stile of Postmaster-General of England, and Comptroller of the Post-Office. 1705 Duke of Marlborough Let. 9 July in H. L. Snyder Marlborough–Godolphin Corr. (1975) I. 455 I am very confident the Post Office can never find a man more willing nor dilligenter then Van der Pool. 1738–9 King in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 223 The ill-treatment I received from the post-office; for some time I did not receive a letter that had not been opened. 1804 Bp. of Lincoln in G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 94 Lord Charles Spencer will..resign the Post-Office. 1845 B. Disraeli Sybil I. ii. xv. 291 The king granted the duke and his heirs for ever, a pension on the post-office. 1875 A. Trollope Prime Minister (1876) I. vii. 103 Sir Orlando Draught, should be asked to put up with the Post-office or..remain at the Colonies. 1893 H. Joyce Hist. Post Office vi. 46 The headquarters of the Post Office were at this time [1690] in Lombard Street. Here the postmasters-general resided. 1941 Engineer 2 May 296 To meet the need for cheapening and expediting homeward postal communication from the British Forces in the Middle East, the Post Office is introducing an airgraph service. 1995 Canad. Forum Apr. 11/1 The dramatic cuts New Zealand has made in government spending over the last decade, slashing social programs..and privatizing just about everything the government owned, including the post office and the national airline. 2. a. A building or room where postal business is carried on; a branch of the Post Office.Now commonly applied to both the central office of a town, etc., (frequently with the), and to local branches and sub-offices which sell stamps, receive items for posting, and conduct minor Post Office business.Earlier in General Post Office n. ΘΚΠ society > communication > correspondence > postal services > [noun] > post office letter office1635 post-house1635 post office1659 post hut1753 post-shed1753 P.O.1824 station1845 post1848 1659 Mercurius Politicus No. 563. 379 The Propositions at the Polish Dyet at Warsovia, March 20... 12. To raise meanes to keep up the Post-Offices. 1660 Act 12 Chas. II c. 35 §1 Whereas for the..prevention of many Inconveniences happening by private Posts severall publique Post Offices have beene heretofore erected..To the end thereof that the same may be managed soe that speedy and safe dispatches may be had, which is most likely to be effected by erecting one Generall Post Office... Be it therefore enacted..that there be from henceforth one Generall Letter Office erected and established in some convenient place within the Citty of London from whence all Letters..may be with speede..sent unto any part of the Kingdomes of England, Scotland and Ireland [etc.]. 1679 T. Oates True Narr. Horrid Plot 46 Some of which [sc. Letters] were delivered to the Post-office in Russel-street; others to the Post-office General. 1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 19. ⁋2 I have..looked over every Letter in the Post-Office for my better Information. 1725 R. Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 196 You do not expect I should write a detail, since I behoved to take dinner, and at eight the post-office closes. 1779 M. Robertson Let. 19 Nov. in John Norton & Sons (1968) 428 Be kind Enough to write me your opinion by return of Post directed to this place at the Post office at Falmo, and Plymo. 1801 M. Edgeworth Angelina ii, in Moral Tales II. 38 She actually discovered, that there was a postoffice at Cardiffe. 1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps i. xii. 90 Money was waiting for me at the post-office in Geneva. 1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset II. lix. 168 She well remembered the number of the post-office in the Edgeware Road. 1926 R. Macaulay Crewe Train ii. xii. 211 She purchased a packet of notepaper and envelopes and a pencil (H.H.) at the post office. 1994 J. Kelman How Late it Was 80 The post office was along the left-hand side of the big square as ye came out the exit. b. slang. Esp. in espionage: a person who receives information and either transmits it or holds it for collection; (also) = drop n. 17d. ΘΚΠ society > communication > information > action of informing > [noun] > one to whom information is given intelligent1508 participant1639 post office1885 the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > [noun] > information exchange > collector or transmitter courier1703 post office1885 society > communication > information > message > [noun] > place where message can be left post office1965 the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > [noun] > information exchange letterbox1940 drop1959 treff1963 post office1965 1885 E. W. Hamilton Diary 12 Apr. (1972) II. 835 M. Lessar suggests that Brett should be asked to be the post office of the Russian Embassy. Accordingly, Lessar goes to Brett, and hands him a Memorandum... Brett forwards the Memorandum here. 1919 J. Buchan Mr. Standfast vii. 148 I had got precisely what Blenkiron wanted, a post office for the enemy... I could see the juiciest lies passing that way to the Grosses Hauptquartier. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 90/2 Post office, a person who receives or delivers letters to crooks. 1945 Tee Emm (Air Ministry) 5 55 Beware of becoming a ‘post office’, simply passing on everything that comes in, happy in the knowledge that there is a higher authority behind you. 1965 D. Williams Not in Public Interest vii. 133 It became evident in 1911 that the hairdresser's shop of Karl Gustav Ernst was being used as a ‘post office’ or clearing-house for German espionage agents in this country. 1974 T. Allbeury Snowball iv. 20 Just a low-grade courier, a dead letterbox and a post office. 3. Chiefly U.S. Applied to various parlour games, esp. one in which the participants take it in turns to deliver letters which are paid for by kisses. Cf. postman's knock n. 2.The sense in quot. 1851 is uncertain. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > parlour and party games > [noun] > postman's knock post office1851 postman's knock1894 1851 J. H. Green Twelve Days in Tombs 157 How often have the professors of Christianity violated all moral principles in the..game of Post-office, where we find stationed some beautiful sister as post mistress, whose duty it is to write the names of those from whom she thinks she can secure the postage. 1855 Quincy (Calif.) Prospector 31 Mar. 2/1 We are astonished to see men and women who are looked upon as samples for the rising generation, join in such childish plays as..‘Post office’, &c. 1899 Amer. Physical Educ. Rev. 361 Those who select love games are at the dawn of adolescence. ‘Drop-the-handkerchief’ and ‘post-office’ are the two favorites of this group. 1914 B. Tarkington in Cosmopolitan Mar. 489/2 ‘We'd have been playing “Quaker meeting”, “clap in, clap out”, or “going to Jerusalem”, I suppose.’ ‘Yes, or “post-office” and “drop the handkerchief”,’ said Mrs. Schofield. 1949 Sat. Evening Post (Philadelphia) 12 Mar. 60/3 After a time this palled and they played Post Office. 1989 R. MacNeil Wordstruck iv. 93 That was our attitude when we played Post Office or Spin the Bottle with Godfrey's sister. Compounds C1. a. General attributive, as post-office clerk, post-office counter, post-office window, etc. ΚΠ 1708 Boston News-let. 15 Mar. 2/2 A little Board hanging out at the Post-Office Window. 1778 F. Burney Evelina III. v. 59 The post-office people will let us know if they hear of him. 1836 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers (1837) ii. 16 Mrs. Tomlinson, the post-office keeper, seemed..to have been chosen the leader of the trade party. 1866 J. Rees Foot-prints 326 Reed was an old post-office clerk, who..had been in the office for twenty odd years. 1891 ‘Phil’ Penny Postage Jubilee ix. 156 It was not an uncommon practice of the post-office servants to mark the postage on the envelope with pen and red ink. 1893 H. Joyce Hist. Post Office vi. 44 Out of London, the Post Office servants remained [in 1690] much as they had been ten years before, at about 239 in number, of whom all but twelve were postmasters. 1923 Glasgow Herald 10 Oct. 7/1 Licenceless owners will make themselves liable to prosecution if discovered by the Post Office inspectors. 1976 Computing Europe 2 Sept. 5/2 There are a lot of Post Office employees and..at least some of them can have criminal inclinations. 1989 V. Singh Jaya Ganga 58 ‘Oh! Oh! Impossible! Incorrigible,’ the man screamed in anger, ‘you mean that bloody postoffice clerk has still not found his ten gram weight!’ 1993 Guardian 18 Sept. 33/3 A large proportion of the ‘unbanked’ rely on state benefits, cashing their giros at post office counters. b. Used in the names of colours associated with various Post Office services, as post office green, post office red, post office yellow. ΚΠ 1930 Times Educ. Suppl. 18 Jan. (Suppl.) p. iv/2 Red offers a fertile field for flights of descriptive fancy... Post Office red, and sealing wax red may be hackneyed words, but their tone is not in doubt. 1963 Ophthalmic Optician 20 Apr. 408/1 If the hole exposes telephone services and cables, the perimeter will be lined with machinery painted in Post Office green. 1976 Scotsman 15 Dec. 14/3 (advt.) The Telecommunications showroom..is decorated internally in Post Office yellow, with relief panels throughout in silver. 1998 Boston Globe (Nexis) 1 Nov. 1 Weary of graffiti on mailboxes in his neighborhood, and with the permission of the local postmaster, Dukakis bought cans of ‘post office blue’ and ‘post office green’ paint. 2004 Herald Express (Torquay) (Nexis) 22 July 2 The locomotive is Post Office red with a silver smoke box and boiler. C2. post-office address n. a postal address. ΘΚΠ society > communication > correspondence > sending items > [noun] > addressing letter > address superscription1464 direction1586 superscript1598 address1622 inscription1741 home address1847 post-office address1849 1849 Sci. Amer. 24 Mar. 215/3 My Post Office address is..Hiram Munger, Manchester, N. H. 1901 Tribune (Chicago) 16 Feb. Give postoffice address in full. 1986 Amer. Math. Monthly 93 821 The solver's full post-office address should be on each sheet. post-office annuity n. an annuity system organized by and purchased through the post office. ΚΠ 1818 Times 25 Dec. 3/2 The act, with respect to the Post-office annuity, was a public act. 1897 Polit. Sci. Q. 12 723 We can, with equal ease, draw up a list of those that make him a better Christian, a pleasanter companion, a more interesting personality, without landing him in a house of his own or a post-office annuity. 1986 Jrnl. Commerce (Nexis) 4 Nov. 11 a The Japanese Post Office Life Insurance and Post Office Annuities Fund has accredited S.G. Warburg & Co. as a securities dealer. post office box n. (a) a private box or pigeonhole at a post office assigned to a person or organization, where letters are kept until called for; (b) = post-office bridge n. ΘΚΠ society > communication > correspondence > postal services > [noun] > place where letters, etc., may be collected > post office or newspaper box box1804 call box1826 post office box1836 P.O. Box1846 the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > resistance > [noun] > instrument used in measuring > in form of bridge bridge1865 Wheatstone bridge1865 wire bridge1880 post-office bridge1890 post office box1894 Kelvin double bridge1896 Maxwell bridge1907 1836 N.-Y. Mirror 9 July 11/2 Applications through Post-Office Box, five hundred and fifty-nine. 1894 W. A. Price Measurement Electr. Resistance 81 Bridge ratios of 1000 and ·001 are available in addition to those in the Post Office box. 1914 London, Edinb. & Dublin Philos. Mag. 6th Ser. 28 470 The resistances of the films of low resistance were measured by a post-office box in the ordinary way. 1965 G. A. G. Bennet Electr. & Mod. Physics viii. 129/2 A Wheatstone type network is connected up as shown..with the galvanometer as one of the four resistances; a Post Office box would be suitable for this purpose. 1992 R. Rankin Brentford Triangle (BNC) 92 No doubt he will wish to have the money orders forwarded to some post-office box in West Ealing. post-office bridge n. a portable, self-contained form of Wheatstone bridge containing a large number of electrical resistors which are selected by means of plugs. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electricity > resistance > [noun] > instrument used in measuring > in form of bridge bridge1865 Wheatstone bridge1865 wire bridge1880 post-office bridge1890 post office box1894 Kelvin double bridge1896 Maxwell bridge1907 1890 Proc. Royal Soc. 48 508 The resistance used in the Post office bridge was about 200 ohms, while that of the main circuit was about 10 ohms, so that the amount of current shunted was comparatively small. 1931 W. L. Upson Electr. Lab. Stud. iii. 45 There is a second form of Wheatstone bridge known as the ‘post-office bridge’. In this type there is no wire giving wide variability to the ratio of B to A, but there are fixed resistance coils so that the ratio may be made 1 to 1, 1 to 10, [etc.]. post-office car n. U.S. (now historical) a mail van or carriage on a train. ΘΚΠ society > communication > correspondence > postal services > person or vehicle that carries letters or mail > [noun] > vehicle or vessel > railway vehicle mail coach1838 mail train1839 mail car1842 night mail1842 post-office car1851 mail1862 postal car1864 postal1891 1851 W. S. Bishop Ways & Highways App. 22 Commissioners..shall determine and fix..a fair compensation for the post-office car. 1883 Manch. Examiner 30 Oct. 8/4 There is..in every train..a post-office car, which contains..a letter box, in which letters may be deposited anywhere en route. 2004 Pittsburgh (Pa.) Post-Gaz. (Nexis) 3 Oct. h1 The 1930s train, with open gondola car and post-office car—the only one remaining in the United States—makes five stops between Titusville and Rynd Farm. post office department n. = sense 1. ΘΚΠ society > communication > correspondence > postal services > [noun] > public department providing Foreign Office1646 post office1652 post1663 post office department1782 P.O.1824 letter-house1832 1782 Jrnls. Continental Congr. (U.S.) 7 505 Any post-master, post rider, or other person employed in the post office department. 1816 Amer. St. Papers (1834) XV. 50 To investigate the conduct of the General Post Office Department. 1991 D. Harington Choiring of Trees 126 As far as the United States Post Office Department was concerned..the place was named Fallsville. post office directory n. now chiefly historical a directory published annually by the Post Office and listing alphabetically the residents, tradesmen, businesses, etc., in a particular area, together with their addresses and (latterly) telephone numbers. ΚΠ 1803 Post-Office Annual Directory: London 3 The Editors of the Post-Office Directory..present their most sincere and grateful Acknowledgements. 1872 (title) The Post Office directory of the grocery & oil & color trades. 1994 New Scientist 16 Apr. 30/9 The following trades were prominent among those listed in the London Post Office directory of 1900: ash collectors, starchers, [etc.]. post office insurance n. (a system of) life insurance purchased through the post office (cf. post-office annuity n.). ΚΠ 1873 Chambers' Encycl. X. 688/2 Post-Office insurance is a valuable addition to the many useful services the British postal establishment has been enabled to render within the last few years. 1934 Amer. Econ. Rev. 24 545 He discusses the Massachusetts Savings Bank Insurance plan, post-office insurance in England, and Japan, governmental plans in Belgium, Switzerland, Wisconsin, [etc.]. 2004 People (Nexis) 3 Oct. 15 [She] suffered multiple fractures after falling from a balcony and faces a 30,000 pounds medical bill. Her Post Office insurance will not pay up because alcohol was involved. post-office order n. now rare a money order for a specified sum issued upon payment at one post office, and payable at another (named) post office to the person specified in a letter of advice. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > money > medium of exchange or currency > paper money > promissory notes or bills of exchange > [noun] > postal order post bill1740 money order1802 post-office order1815 order1846 P.O.O.1856 PO1861 postal note1862 postal order1864 mandat1896 M.O.1909 postal draft1929 1815 W. Scott Antiquary I. xv, in Waverley Novels V. 208 I hae been sic a fule as to show you the post-office order. 1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. xvii. 160 No Post-office order is in the interim received from Nicodemus Boffin, Esquire. 1906 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-lore 19 261 The treasurer, to whom fees may be paid by post-office order and checks negotiable in Quebec, is M. Alphonse Gagnon. 2004 Times (Nexis) 20 Feb. 25 How is a man on the heights above Sebastopol to send 100 piastres to anybody at Galata? We have no post-office orders here. post office packet n. now historical a packet-boat carrying mail for the Post Office. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > vessel for transporting people or goods > [noun] > packet or mailboat post-boat1582 post-bark1599 post1600 post packet1634 packet-boat1642 packeta1670 post office packet1780 packet-ship1782 packet-bark1806 packet steamer1842 sailing-packet1842 mailboat1895 multipacket1965 society > communication > correspondence > postal services > person or vehicle that carries letters or mail > [noun] > vehicle or vessel > vessel post-boat1582 post packet1634 post office packet1780 mailboat1786 mail steamer1843 mailer1857 mail ship1891 1780 A. Young Tour Ireland i. 342 It is much to be wished, that there were some means of being secure of packets sailing regularly..; with the post-office packets there is this satisfaction. 1855 C. Dickens Holly-tree Inn: Guest in Househ. Words Extra Christmas No. 1/2 The Post-office packet for the United States was to depart from Liverpool. 2003 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 23 July 10 The second was built at Chatham in 1833 as a Post Office packet called Gulnare... She was a 360 ton, 130hp paddle steamer, armed with three guns. post-office savings-bank n. a bank having branches at local post offices where sums within fixed limits were received on government security at a fixed rate of interest (now historical in the United Kingdom). ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > financial dealings > banking > [noun] > bank > savings bank saving bank1808 savings bank1813 saving institution1816 savings institution1819 trustee bank1841 penny bank1849 post-office savings-bank1861 1861 Act 24 & 25 Victoria c. 14 Post Office Savings Banks..An Act to grant additional Facilities for depositing small Savings at Interest, with the Security of the Government for due Repayment thereof [17th May 1861]. Whereas it is expedient..to make the General Post Office available for that Purpose. 1936 M. Allingham Flowers for Judge xi. 172 Mr. Campion turned over the battered cardboard-backed book... ‘Post Office Savings Bank?.. Whose is it?’ 2004 Liquid Afr. (Nexis) 1 Nov. At building societies and the Post Office Savings Bank.., it [sc. cheque clearance] will take seven working days in Harare and Bulawayo. post-office savings bank book n. (also post-office savings book) now historical a book in which post-office savings-bank transactions are recorded. ΘΚΠ society > trade and finance > management of money > keeping accounts > account or statement of > [noun] > bank book or savings book bankbook1714 passage-book1816 savings book1826 passbook1828 post-office savings bank book1936 society > trade and finance > financial dealings > banking > [noun] > bank-account > passbook or savings book bankbook1714 bankers' book1764 passage-book1816 savings book1826 passbook1828 post-office savings bank book1936 1936 M. Allingham Flowers for Judge xviii. 260 One day you find her Post Office Savings Bank-book. 1966 B. Kimenye Kalasanda Revisited 21 His Post Office Savings book boasted the grand total of 600s. 1973 P. Moyes Curious Affair of Third Dog viii. 104 A Post Office savings book showing a balance of some ten pounds. post-office stamp n. (a) a postage stamp; (b) an official stamp imprinted on a letter, parcel, etc., by the post office, a postmark; (c) the instrument used for stamping this. ΘΚΠ society > communication > correspondence > postal services > payment for postage > [noun] > postmarking > postmark stamp1661 postmark1678 post-office stamp1827 obliterator1869 obliteration1881 1827 Amer. State Papers (1834) XV. 304 William J. Stone, for post office stamps, $128·49. 1842 G. Barmby in Promethean Jan. 24/2 Friends in the country..can receive their cards of membership, by applying to the General Secretary, by letter, post-paid, and including three post-office stamps. 1983 Eng. Hist. Rev. 98 422 He ignores the evidence of the post-office stamps which occasionally..give the day and month, though not the year. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.1652
随便看	mountainchaise mountaincircled mountainclear mountaincool mountaincork mountaincradled mountaincresting mountaindew mountaindwelling mountainechoed mountained mountaineer mountaineered mountaineering mountaineerings mountaineers mountainer mountainest mountainette mountainflax mountainflour mountainfolding mountaingirdled mountainguarded mountaingun