(pōst) noun
1. An upright piece of timber or other material used as a support, a point of attachment, etc., as in a building.
2. A central projection in a lock for receiving the tube of a key.
3. A line or post serving to mark the starting or finishing point of a racecourse.
—v.t.
1. To put up (a poster, etc.) in some public place.
2. To fasten posters upon; placard.
3. To announce by or as by a poster: to post a reward.
4. To denounce thus: to post one as a coward.
5. To publish the name of on a list.
6. To publish the name of (a ship) as lost or overdue. See synonyms under SET. [OE <L postis a door post]

(pōst) noun
1. Any fixed place or station, occupied or for occupation; especially, a place occupied by a detachment of troops; also, the garrison of such a station; the limits of a sentry's beat; the beat or position to which a policeman is assigned.
2. U.S. A local unit of a veterans' organization.
3. An office or employment; a position, as of trust or emolument; situation; especially, a public office.
4. A trading post or settlement.
5. Brit. One of the two bugle calls known respectively as first post and last post. The latter corresponds to taps in the army of the United States. See synonyms under PLACE.
—v.t.
1. To assign to a particular position or post; station, as a sentry.
2. To appoint to a military or naval command. [<MF poste a post, a station <Ital. posto <LL postum, contraction of L positum, pp. neut. of ponere place]

(pōst) noun
1 a A rider or courier who travels over a fixed route or between stations on such a route carrying letters, dispatches, etc. b Any of the series of stations furnishing relays of men and horses on such a route.
2. An established system, especially a government system, for transporting the mails; also, the aggregate of mail matter transported from one place to another at one time; the mail; by extension, a post office: Has the post come in? Put your letter in the post.
3. A size of writing paper, 16 by 20 inches: so called because it bore a postman's horn for watermark.
—v.t.
1. Brit. To place in a mailbox or post office; mail.
2. To inform: He posted us on the latest news.
3. In bookkeeping: a To transfer (items or accounts) to the ledger. b To make the proper entries in (a ledger).
—v.i.
4. To travel with post horses.
5. To travel with speed; hasten.
6. In horseback riding, to rise from the saddle in rhythm with a horse's gait when trotting.
—adverb By post horses; hence, rapidly. [<MF poste <Ital. posta, orig. a station <LL, contraction of L posita, pp. fem. of ponere place]

1. After in time or order; following: postdate, postwar.
2. Chiefly in scientific terms, after in position; behind: postorbital. [<L post- <post behind, after]

(pōst), Emily,
1873–1960, née Price, U. S. columnist and writer on social etiquette.