What is "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:

   1. 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.

   2. A military station; the place at which a soldier or a body of troops is stationed; also, the troops at such a station.

   3. The piece of ground to which a sentinel's walk is limited.

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.

   In certain places there be always fresh posts, to carry that further which is brought unto them by the other.
   --Abp. Abbot.

   I fear my Julia would not deign my lines, Receiving them from such a worthless post.
   --Shak.

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.

   I send you the fair copy of the poem on dullness, which I should not care to hazard by the common post.
   --Pope.

4. Haste or speed, like that of a messenger or mail carrier. [Obs.] ``In post he came.''
   --Shak.

5. One who has charge of a station, especially of a postal station. [Obs.]

   He held office of postmaster, or, as it was then called, post, for several years.
   --Palfrey.

6. A station, office, or position of service, trust, or emolument; as, the post of duty; the post of danger.

   The post of honor is a private station.
   --Addison.

7. A size of printing and writing paper. See the Table under Paper. 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.

   1. 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.

   2. 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.

      1. A town in which post horses are kept.

      2. 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.

Post office \Post" of`fice\, n. See under 4th Post.

1650s, "public department in charge of letter-carrying," from post (n.3) + office. Meaning "building where postal business is carried on" is from 1650s. In slang or euphemistic sense of "a sexual game" it refers to an actual parlor game first attested early 1850s in which pretend "letters" were paid for by kisses.

n. 1 A place (building, office, shop, or counter) concerned with the business of delivering letters, post or mail and selling stamps, etc. 2 An organisation that delivers letters (for example, Canada Post, Royal Mail, United States Postal Service). 3 (context North America English) A children's game.

1. n. a local branch of the United States Post Office [syn: local post office]

2. an independent agency of the federal government responsible for mail delivery (and sometimes telecommunications) between individuals and businesses in the United States [syn: United States Post Office, US Post Office, PO]

3. a children's game in which kisses are exchanged for pretended letters

Post Office is the first novel written by Charles Bukowski, published in 1971 when he was 50 years old.

Post Office is a kissing game played by boys and girls at parties. It has been referred to in United States popular culture since at least the 1880s.

The Post Office, or Old Post Office, in Christine, North Dakota, United States, was built in about 1895-98 and was moved in 1906. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

It is a one-and-a-half story building.

A post office is a customer service facility forming part of a national postal system. Post offices offer mail-related services such as acceptance of letters and parcels; provision of post office boxes; and sale of postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. In addition, many post offices offer additional services: providing and accepting government forms (such as passport applications), processing government services and fees (such as road tax), and banking services (such as savings accounts and money orders). The chief administrator of a post office is a postmaster.

Prior to the advent of postal and ZIP codes, postal systems would route items to a specific post office for receipt or delivery. In 19th-century America, this often led to smaller communities being renamed after their post offices, particularly after the Post Office Department ceased to permit duplicate station names within a state.

A post office is a facility that is part of a postal network.

Post Office may also refer to several national postal services, including:

• General Post Office, the former English and British postal service
• Post Office Ltd, retail post office company in the United Kingdom
• United States Post Office Department, the former U.S. postal service
• United States Postal Service, the present U.S. postal service
• Canada Post, the present Canadian postal service

It may also refer to:

• St. Paul's tube station, originally known as Post Office from its position near the GPO East
• Post Office (game), a kissing game played by boys and girls
• Post Office (novel), by Charles Bukowski