Adjacent Words

mail boat definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a boat for carrying mail [syn: mailboat, mail boat, packet, packet boat]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Mail Mail, n. [OE. male bag, OF. male, F. malle bag, trunk, mail, OHG. malaha, malha, wallet; akin to D. maal, male; cf. Gael. & Ir. mala, Gr. ? hide, skin.] 1. A bag; a wallet. [Obs.] --Chaucer. 2. The bag or bags with the letters, papers, papers, or other matter contained therein, conveyed under public authority from one post office to another; the whole system of appliances used by government in the conveyance and delivery of mail matter. There is a mail come in to-day, with letters dated Hague. --Tatler. 3. That which comes in the mail; letters, etc., received through the post office. 4. A trunk, box, or bag, in which clothing, etc., may be carried. [Obs.] --Sir W. Scott. Mail bag, a bag in which mailed matter is conveyed under public authority. Mail boat, a boat that carries the mail. Mail catcher, an iron rod, or other contrivance, attached to a railroad car for catching a mail bag while the train is in motion. Mail guard, an officer whose duty it is to guard the public mails. [Eng.] Mail train, a railroad train carrying the mail.