5 → see also posting , staging post
➌ post /poʊ st/ (posts )
→ Please look at categories 5 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1 N‑COUNT A post is a strong upright pole made of wood or metal that is fixed into the ground. □ You have to get eight wooden posts, and drive them into the ground.
2 N‑COUNT A post is the same as a goalpost . □ Wimbledon were unlucky not to win after hitting the post twice.
3 N‑SING On a horse-racing track, the post is a pole which marks the finishing point.
4 → see also first-past-the-post
5 to pip someone at the post → see pip
PREFIX post-
forms words that refer to something that takes place after a particular date, period, or event. For example, a postscript to a letter is extra information that you write at the end, after you have signed it.
post|age /poʊ st I dʒ/ N‑UNCOUNT Postage is the money that you pay for sending letters and packages by post.
po st|age stamp (postage stamps ) N‑COUNT A postage stamp is a small piece of gummed paper that you buy from the post office and stick on an envelope or package before you post it. [FORMAL ]
post|al /poʊ st ə l/
1 ADJ [ADJ n] Postal is used to describe things or people connected with the public service of carrying letters and packages from one place to another. □ Compensation for lost or damaged mail will be handled by the postal service. □ Include your full postal address.
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Postal is used to describe activities that involve sending things by post. □ Unions would elect their leadership by secret postal ballot.
po st|al or|der (postal orders ) N‑COUNT A postal order is a piece of paper representing a sum of money which you can buy at a post office and send to someone as a way of sending them money by post. [BRIT ] in AM, usually use money order
post|bag /poʊ stbæg/ (postbags ) also post-bag N‑COUNT [usu sing] The letters that are received by an important person, a newspaper, or a television or radio company can be referred to as the postbag . [mainly BRIT , JOURNALISM ] □ Here's another selection of recent letters from our postbag. □ Marling's article on Northumbria attracted a large postbag.
post|box /poʊ stbɒks/ (postboxes ) also post box N‑COUNT A postbox is a metal box in a public place, where you put letters and packets to be collected. They are then sorted and delivered. Compare letterbox . [BRIT ] in AM, use mailbox
post|card /poʊ stkɑː r d/ (postcards ) also post card
1 N‑COUNT A postcard is a piece of thin card, often with a picture on one side, which you can write on and send to people without using an envelope.
2 → see also picture postcard
post|code /poʊ stkoʊd/ (postcodes ) also post code N‑COUNT Your postcode is a short sequence of numbers and letters at the end of your address, which helps the post office to sort the mail. [BRIT ] in AM, use zip code
po st-da ted ADJ [usu ADJ n] On a post-dated cheque, the date is a later one than the date when the cheque was actually written. You write a post-dated cheque to allow a period of time before the money is taken from your account.
post|er /poʊ stə r / (posters ) N‑COUNT A poster is a large notice or picture that you stick on a wall or board, often in order to advertise something.
po st|er child (poster children ) or poster boy , poster girl
1 N‑COUNT If someone is a poster child for a particular cause, characteristic, or activity, they are seen as a very good or typical example of it. [mainly AM ] □ [+ for ] Zidane has become the poster child for a whole generation of French-born youths of North African extraction.
2 N‑COUNT A poster child is a young man or woman who appears on an advertising poster. [mainly AM ] □ She went out with a Calvin Klein poster boy.
poste res|tante /poʊ st re stɑːnt, [AM ] restɑː nt/ N‑UNCOUNT [oft N n] Poste restante is a service operated by post offices by which letters and packages that are sent to you are kept at a particular post office until you collect them. [mainly BRIT ] in AM, use general delivery
pos|teri|or /pɒst I ə riə r / (posteriors )
1 N‑COUNT Someone's bottom can be referred to as their posterior . [mainly HUMOROUS ]
2 ADJ [ADJ n] Posterior describes something that is situated at the back of something else. [MEDICAL ] □ …the posterior leg muscles.
pos|ter|ity /pɒste r I ti/ N‑UNCOUNT [oft for N ] You can refer to everyone who will be alive in the future as posterity . [FORMAL ] □ A photographer recorded the scene for posterity.
po st|er paint (poster paints ) N‑VAR Poster paint is a type of brightly coloured paint which contains no oil and is used for painting pictures. [mainly BRIT ]
post-fe minist (post-feminists )
1 ADJ Post-feminist people and attitudes accept some of the ideas of feminism, but reject others. □ …the post-feminist age.
2 N‑COUNT A post-feminist is someone who accepts some of the ideas of feminism, but rejects others. ● post-feminism N‑UNCOUNT □ Post-feminism does not actually exist because we are still in the phase of pre-feminism.
post|grad /poʊ stgræd/ (postgrads ) also post-grad N‑COUNT A postgrad is the same as a postgraduate . [BRIT , INFORMAL ] in AM, use grad student