2. Originally, a vessel employed by government to convey
dispatches or mails; hence, a vessel employed in conveying
dispatches, mails, passengers, and goods, and having fixed
days of sailing; a mail boat.
{Packet boat}, {ship}, or {vessel}. See {Packet}, n., 2.
{Packet day}, the day for mailing letters to go by packet; or
the sailing day.
{Packet note} or {post}. See under {Paper}.
They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the
two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the
houses. --Ex. xii. 7.
Then by main force pulled up, and on his shoulders
bore, The gates of Azza, post and massy bar.
--Milton.
Unto his order he was a noble post. --Chaucer.
Note: Post, in the sense of an upright timber or strut, is
used in composition, in such words as king-post,
queen-post, crown-post, gatepost, etc.
2. The doorpost of a victualer's shop or inn, on which were
chalked the scores of customers; hence, a score; a debt.
[Obs.]
When God sends coin I will discharge your post. --S.
Rowlands.
{From pillar to post}. See under {Pillar}.
{Knight of the post}. See under {Knight}.
{Post hanger} (Mach.), a bearing for a revolving shaft,
adapted to be fastened to a post.
{Post hole}, a hole in the ground to set the foot of a post
in.
{Post mill}, a form of windmill so constructed that the whole
fabric rests on a vertical axis firmly fastened to the
ground, and capable of being turned as the direction of
the wind varies.
{Post and stall} (Coal Mining), a mode of working in which
pillars of coal are left to support the roof of the mine.
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 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.
Note: Formerly, a large post was erected before the sheriff's
office, or in some public place, upon which legal
notices were displayed. This way of advertisement has
not entirely gone of use.
2. To hold up to public blame or reproach; to advertise
opprobriously; to denounce by public proclamation; as, to
post one for cowardice.
On pain of being posted to your sorrow Fail not, at
four, to meet me. --Granville.
3. To enter (a name) on a list, as for service, promotion, or
the like.
4. To assign to a station; to set; to place; as, to post a
sentinel. ``It might be to obtain a ship for a lieutenant,
. . . or to get him posted.'' --De Quincey.
5. (Bookkeeping) To carry, as an account, from the journal to
the ledger; as, to post an account; to transfer, as
accounts, to the ledger.
You have not posted your books these ten years.
--Arbuthnot.
6. To place in the care of the post; to mail; as, to post a
letter.
7. To inform; to give the news to; to make (one) acquainted
with the details of a subject; -- often with up.
Thoroughly posted up in the politics and literature
of the day. --Lond. Sat.
Rev.
{To post off}, to put off; to delay. [Obs.] ``Why did I,
venturously, post off so great a business?'' --Baxter.
{To post over}, to hurry over. [Obs.] --Fuller.
And post o'er land and ocean without rest. --Milton.
2. (Man.) To rise and sink in the saddle, in accordance with
the motion of the horse, esp. in trotting. [Eng.]