post³ /pōst/

1. An officially established system for the conveyance and delivery of mail
2. Letters and parcels delivered by this system, mail
3. A collection or delivery of mail
4. A post office, or post-office letter box
5. An item published on the World Wide Web
6. A messenger carrying letters by stages or otherwise (historical)
7. A public letter-carrier (historical)
8. A postman (obsolete or dialect)
9. A mail-coach (historical)
10. A packet-boat (obsolete)
11. A posthorse (Shakespeare)
12. A fixed place or stage on a road, for forwarding letters and change of horses (historical)
13. A name often given to a newspaper
14. Haste (Shakespeare)
15. A size of writing paper, double that of common notepaper (orig with watermark, a post horn)

1. To put into a letter box, or hand over at a post office, for conveyance and delivery
2. To enter in a ledger, or (with up) update (a ledger), or transfer to another book or account (bookkeeping)
3. To supply with news or the latest information
4. To publish on the World Wide Web
5. To shift or transfer (eg blame) to another (with over or off; Shakespeare)

1. To travel with posthorses or with speed
2. To move up and down in the saddle, in time with the horse's movements

1. With posthorses
2. With speed

postˈer noun

1. Someone who travels post (Shakespeare)
2. A posthorse (historical)
3. The person who posts a letter
4. See also poster¹

postˈie noun (Scot and Aust informal)

A postman

postˈing noun and adjective

postˈbag noun

1. A mailbag
2. A term used collectively for letters received

postˈbox noun

A letter box

post boy noun (historical)

1. A boy who rides posthorses or who carries letters
2. A postilion

postˈbus noun

A small bus used for delivering mail and for conveying passengers, esp in rural areas

postˈcard noun

1. A card for writing messages on, often with a picture on one side, designed for sending through the post without an envelope
2. Such a card not issued by the post office, as distinct from a postal card (qv under postal) (US)

transitive verb

To send a postcard to

post chaise (popularly po’ˈchay, poˈchay and po’ˈchaise) noun (historical)

A carriage, usu four-wheeled, for two or four passengers, with a postilion, used in travelling with posthorses

post-chaiseˈ intransitive verb

To travel by post chaise

postˈcode noun

A code, often a combination of letters and numbers, specific to a particular section of housing, added to addresses to ease the task of sorting mail for delivery

transitive verb

To provide with or affix a postcode

postcode lottery noun (informal)

A situation in which the provision of services such as medical treatment or education, rather than being uniform everywhere, varies in quality according to where people live

post day noun

The day on which the post or mail arrives or departs

post-freeˈ adjective and adverb

1. Without charge for postage
2. With postage prepaid

posthasteˈ noun

(from the old direction on letters, haste, post, haste) haste in travelling like that of a post

adjective

1. Speedy
2. Immediate

adverb

With utmost haste or speed

post horn noun

1. A postman's horn
2. A long straight brass horn blown by a coach guard

postˈhorse noun

A horse kept for posting

postˈhouse noun

1. An inn, orig where horses were kept for posting
2. A post office

post letter noun

A letter in the custody of the post office

postˈman noun

1. A man who delivers mail
2. A post or courier (historical)

postman's knock noun

A party game in which players take turns to pretend to deliver a letter, and get a kiss from the ‘recipient’

postˈmark noun

The mark stamped upon an item of mail at a post office defacing the postage stamp or showing the date and place of despatch or of arrival

transitive verb

To mark an item of mail in this way

postˈmaster noun

1. A person in charge of a local post office
2. Someone who supplies posthorses (historical)
3. (with cap) a portionist or scholar on the foundation of Merton College, Oxford

postmaster general noun

1. The minister at the head of a country's postal services
2. (with caps) this post in the UK, abolished in 1969

postˈmastership noun

postˈmistress noun

A woman in charge of a local post office

post office noun

1. An office for receiving and transmitting letters by post, and other business
2. (with caps) a government department or national authority in charge of the conveyance of letters, etc in various countries

post-office box noun

One of a series of private numbered boxes or locations in a post office, where mail is kept until called for by the addressee

Post Office Savings Bank noun

The older name of the National Savings Bank

postˈ-paidˈ adjective

Having the postage prepaid

postˈperson noun

A postman or postwoman

postˈrider noun (historical)

The rider of a posthorse

post road noun (historical)

A road with stations for posthorses

post time noun

The time for the despatch or for the delivery of letters

post town, post village noun

A town or village with a post office

postˈwoman noun

A woman who delivers mail

general post

A game in which the players change places simultaneously

• overspend
• overspending
• overspends
• overspent
• overspill
• overspills
• overspin
• overspins
• overspread
• overspreading
• overspreads
• overstaff
• overstaffed
• overstaffing
• overstaffs
• overstain
• overstained
• overstaining
• overstains
• overstand
• overstanding
• overstands
• overstare
• overstared
• overstares