post

noun · verb · adverb

Simple meaning

A pole or stake set up to mark something.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

pohst

US device voice

IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈpoʊst

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

noun

A pole or stake set up to mark something (as the start or end of a race track)
“A pair of posts marked the goal.”
A long dowel or plank protruding from the ground; a fencepost; a lightpost.
A pole in a battery.
A message posted in an electronic or Internet forum, or on a blog, etc.
UKAustraliaNew Zealand
An organisation for delivering letters, parcels etc., or the service provided by such an organisation.
UKAustraliaNew Zealand
A single delivery of letters; the letters or deliveries that make up a single batch delivered to one person or one address.

verb

To hold up to public blame or reproach; to advertise opprobriously; to denounce by public proclamation.
transitiveby extension
To announce publicly; to publish.
To inform; to give the news to; to make acquainted with the details of a subject; often with up.
To travel with relays of horses; to travel by post horses, originally as a courier.
UKAustraliaNew Zealand
To send (an item of mail etc.) through the postal service.
To travel quickly; to hurry.

adverb

With the post, on post-horses; by a relay of horses (changing at every staging-post); hence, express, with speed, quickly.
Sent via the postal service.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty: A1 · Beginner
Frequency: Very Common
Typical Use: Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: A long dowel or plank protruding from the ground; a fencepost; a lightpost.

Used this way, post is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone: Neutral
Formality: Neutral
Intensity: Not strongly marked
How common: Moderately common
Connotation: Matter-of-fact
Usage feel: Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

Position / assigned

post office

Long

new post

Vertical

evening post

Other combinations

trading postcommand postmorning post

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

postedadjectiveInflected form
Publicly displayed.
posternounInflected form
A sign posted in a public place as an advertisement.
postingnounInflected form
A sign posted in a public place as an advertisement.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

postaladjectiveDerived adjective
Related to A pole or stake set up to mark something (as the start or end of a race track).

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

post roadnounCompound term
A road over which mail is carried.
post-paidadverbCompound term
Having the postage paid by the sender.
post-horsenounCompound term
A horse kept at an inn or post house for use by mail carriers or for rent to travelers.
post-office box numbernounCompound term
The number of a letter box at the post office where mail is collected.
post-office boxnounCompound term
A numbered compartment in a post office where mail is put to be called for.
post hornnounCompound term
Wind instrument used by postilions of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

postcardnounRelated term
A card for sending messages by post without an envelope.
postmasternounRelated term
The person in charge of a post office.
postmarknounRelated term
A cancellation mark stamped on mail by postal officials.
poste restantenounRelated term
The part of a post office that handles mail for persons who call for it.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: pole

stake

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.