Mail Meɪl Send Noun Service/Train/Van Royal Regular/Postal Email

• a mail service/train/van
• the royal mail
• regular/postal mail (= rather than email)
• hard copies of the documents are in the mail to you.

mail

1. the official system used for sending and delivering letters, packages, etc.
• SEE ALSO airmail
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/airmail
• a mail service/train/van
• the Royal Mail
• regular/postal mail (= rather than email)
• Hard copies of the documents are in the mail to you.
• We do our business by mail.
• Never send cash through the mail.
• We did not get any message via mail or email.

Extra Examples

• If we want to send something to another department, we use the internal mail.
• Send it by first-class mail.
• Millions of people registered to vote by mail.
• If you're sending correspondence through the mail these days, why not design your own stamps?
2. letters, packages, etc. that are sent and delivered
• SEE ALSO direct mail
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/direct-mail
• There isn't much mail today.
• I sat down to open the mail.
• to send/receive/deliver mail
• Is there a letter from them in the mail?
• Remember to cancel mail delivery when you go on vacation.

Extra Examples

• Has the mail come yet?
• Some people let their assistants handle the mail.
• The mail is collected twice a day.
• The postcode allows the mail to be sorted automatically.
• We had our mail redirected when we moved out.
3. messages/a message sent or received on a computer
• SEE ALSO electronic mail
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/electronic-mail
• Check regularly for new mail.
• She checked her mail before leaving the hotel.
• You've got mail.
• incoming/outgoing mail
• The company's mail server was down.
• You can delete your mails with a single swipe.
4. used in the title of some newspapers
• the Mail on Sunday
5. armour (= clothing to protect the body when fighting) made of small metal rings linked together
• a coat of mail

Word Origin

• Middle English (in the sense ‘travelling bag’): from Old French male ‘wallet’, of West Germanic origin. The sense “by post” dates from the mid 17th cent.