Post

Pronunciation

• RP IPA: /pəʊst/
• US enPR: pōst, IPA: /poÊŠst/
• Rhymes: -əʊst

Alternative forms

• poast obsolete

From Old English post ("pillar, door-post") and Old French, from Latin postis ("a post, a door-post")

Full definition of post

Noun

1. A long dowel or plank protruding from the ground; a fence post; a light post
2. (construction) a stud; a two-by-four
3. A pole in a battery
4. (dentistry) A long, narrow piece inserted into a root canal to provide retention for a crown.
5. (vocal music, chiefly a cappella) a prolonged final melody note, among moving harmony notes
6. (paper, printing) A printing paper size measuring 19.25 inches x 15.5 inches
7. (sports) goalpost
• 2010, December 29, Chris Whyatt, Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton, But they marginally improved after the break as Didier Drogba hit the post.
8. (obsolete) The doorpost of a victualler's shop or inn, on which were chalked the scores of customers; hence, a score; a debt.
• S. RowlandsWhen God sends coin
  I will discharge your post.

Derived terms

Verb

1. (transitive) To hang (a notice) in a conspicuous manner for general review.Post no bills.
2. To hold up to public blame or reproach; to advertise opprobriously; to denounce by public proclamation.to post someone for cowardice
• GranvilleOn pain of being posted to your sorrow
  Fail not, at four, to meet me.
3. (accounting) To carry (an account) from the journal to the ledger.
• ArbuthnotYou have not posted your books these ten years.
4. To inform; to give the news to; to make acquainted with the details of a subject; often with up.
• London Saturday Reviewthoroughly posted up in the politics and literature of the day
5. (transitive, poker) To pay (a blind)Since Jim was new to the game, he had to post $4 in order to receive a hand.

Derived terms

• poster

From Middle French poste, from Italian posta ("stopping-place for coaches"), feminine of posto ("placed, situated").

Noun

1. (obsolete) Each of a series of men stationed at specific places along a postroad, with responsibility for relaying letters and dispatches of the monarch (and later others) along the route. 16th-17th c.
2. (dated) A station, or one of a series of stations, established for the refreshment and accommodation of travellers on some recognized route.a stage or railway post
3. A military base; the place at which a soldier or a body of troops is stationed; also, the troops at such a station.
4. (now historical) Someone who travels express along a set route carrying letters and dispatches; a courier. from 16th c.
• Archbishop AbbotIn certain places there be always fresh posts, to carry that further which is brought unto them by the other.
• ShakespeareI fear my Julia would not deign my lines,
  Receiving them from such a worthless post.
• 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 199:information was filtered through the counting-houses and warehouses of Antwerp; posts galloped along the roads of the Low Countries, while dispatches streamed through Calais, and were passed off the merchant galleys arriving in London from the Flanders ports.
5. An organisation for delivering letters, parcels etc., or the service provided by such an organisation. from 17th c.sent via post; parcel post
• Alexander PopeI send you the fair copy of the poem on dullness, which I should not care to hazard by the common post.
6. A single delivery of letters; the letters or deliveries that make up a single batch delivered to one person or one address. from 17th c.
7. A message posted in an electronic forum. from 20th c.
8. A location on a basketball court near the basket.
9. (American football) A moderate to deep passing route in which a receiver runs 10-20 yards from the line of scrimmage straight down the field, then cuts toward the middle of the field (towards the facing goalposts) at a 45-degree angle.Two of the receivers ran post patterns.
10. (obsolete) Haste or speed, like that of a messenger or mail carrier.
• ShakespeareIn post he came.
11. (obsolete) One who has charge of a station, especially a postal station.
• PalfreyHe held office of postmaster, or, as it was then called, post, for several years.

Derived terms

Verb

1. To send an item of mail.Mail items posted before 7.00pm within the Central Business District and before 5.00pm outside the Central Business District will be delivered the next working day.
2. To travel with post horses; figuratively, to travel in haste.
• ShakespearePost speedily to my lord your husband.
• MiltonAnd post o'er land and ocean without rest.
3. (UK, horse-riding) To rise and sink in the saddle, in accordance with the motion of the horse, especially in trotting.
4. (Internet) To publish a message to a newsgroup, forum, blog, etc.I couldn't figure it out, so I posted a question on the mailing list.

Derived terms

• poster

Adverb

1. With the post, on post-horses; express, with speed, quickly
• 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones, Folio Society 1973, p. 353:In this posture were affairs at the inn when a gentleman arrived there post.
• 1888, Rudyard Kipling, ‘The Arrest of Lieutenant Golightly’, Plain Tales from the Hills, Folio 2005, p. 93:He prided himself on looking neat even when he was riding post.
2. sent via the postal service

Descendants

• German: posten

Probably from French poste.

Noun

1. An assigned station; a guard post.
• 2013-06-08, The new masters and commanders, From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.
2. An appointed position in an organization.
• 2011, December 14, Angelique Chrisafis, Rachida Dati accuses French PM of sexism and elitism, She was Nicolas Sarkozy's pin-up for diversity, the first Muslim woman with north African parents to hold a major French government post. But Rachida Dati has now turned on her own party elite with such ferocity that some have suggested she should be expelled from the president's ruling party.

Verb

1. To enter (a name) on a list, as for service, promotion, etc.
2. To assign to a station; to set; to place.Post a sentinel in front of the door.
• De QuinceyIt might be to obtain a ship for a lieutenant, ... or to get him posted.

From Latin post

Preposition

1. after; especially after a significant event that has long-term ramifications
• 2008, Michael Tomasky, "Obama cannot let the right cast him in that 60s show", The Guardian, online,One of the most appealing things for me about Barack Obama has always been that he comes post the post-60s generation.
• 2008, Matthew Stevens, "Lew pressured to reveal what he knows", The Australian, online,Lew reckons he had three options for the cash-cow which was Premier post the Coles sale.

Anagrams

• opts, pots, POTS, spot, Spot, stop, tops