- Post office
- Post Post, n. [F. poste, LL. posta station, post (where horses
were kept), properly, a fixed or set place, fem. fr. L.
positus placed, p. p. of ponere. See {Position}, and cf.
{Post} a pillar.]
1. The place at which anything is stopped, placed, or fixed;
a station. Specifically:
(a) A station, or one of a series of stations, established
for the refreshment and accommodation of travelers on
some recognized route; as, a stage or railway post.
(b) A military station; the place at which a soldier or a
body of troops is stationed; also, the troops at such
a station.
(c) The piece of ground to which a sentinel's walk is
limited.
[1913 Webster]
2. A messenger who goes from station; an express; especially, one who is employed by the government to carry letters and parcels regularly from one place to another; a letter carrier; a postman. [1913 Webster]
In certain places there be always fresh posts, to carry that further which is brought unto them by the other. --Abp. Abbot. [1913 Webster]
I fear my Julia would not deign my lines, Receiving them from such a worthless post. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
3. An established conveyance for letters from one place or station to another; especially, the governmental system in any country for carrying and distributing letters and parcels; the post office; the mail; hence, the carriage by which the mail is transported. [1913 Webster]
I send you the fair copy of the poem on dullness, which I should not care to hazard by the common post. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
4. Haste or speed, like that of a messenger or mail carrier. [Obs.] ``In post he came.'' --Shak. [1913 Webster]
5. One who has charge of a station, especially of a postal station. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
He held office of postmaster, or, as it was then called, post, for several years. --Palfrey. [1913 Webster]
6. A station, office, or position of service, trust, or emolument; as, the post of duty; the post of danger. [1913 Webster]
The post of honor is a private station. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
7. A size of printing and writing paper. See the Table under {Paper}. [1913 Webster]
{Post and pair}, an old game at cards, in which each player a hand of three cards. --B. Jonson.
{Post bag}, a mail bag.
{Post bill}, a bill of letters mailed by a postmaster.
{Post chaise}, or {Post coach}, a carriage usually with four wheels, for the conveyance of travelers who travel post.
{Post day}, a day on which the mall arrives or departs.
{Post hackney}, a hired post horse. --Sir H. Wotton.
{Post horn}, a horn, or trumpet, carried and blown by a carrier of the public mail, or by a coachman.
{Post horse}, a horse stationed, intended, or used for the post.
{Post hour}, hour for posting letters. --Dickens.
{Post office}. (a) An office under governmental superintendence, where letters, papers, and other mailable matter, are received and distributed; a place appointed for attending to all business connected with the mail. (b) The governmental system for forwarding mail matter.
{Postoffice order}. See {Money order}, under {Money}.
{Post road}, or {Post route}, a road or way over which the mail is carried.
{Post town}. (a) A town in which post horses are kept. (b) A town in which a post office is established by law.
{To ride post}, to ride, as a carrier of dispatches, from place to place; hence, to ride rapidly, with as little delay as possible.
{To travel post}, to travel, as a post does, by relays of horses, or by keeping one carriage to which fresh horses are attached at each stopping place. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
