From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmailmail1 /meɪl/ ●●● S3 W3 noun [uncountable] 1 TCMthe letters and packages that are delivered to you You shouldn't read other people's mail. He found a mountain of mail waiting for him. She promised to forward my mail to my new address (=send it from your old home or office to your new one). He gets sacks of fan mail (=letters from people who admire him). hate mail (=letters from people who hate you)2 especially American EnglishTCM the system of collecting and delivering letters and packages SYN post British English The mail here’s really slow and unreliable. The product will be sold mainly through the mail.in the mail I’ll put the check in the mail tomorrow.by mail Did you send the document by mail?registered/express/first-class etc mail I sent my application by registered mail. Most reports are sent via internal mail (=a system of sending documents to people inside the same organization).3 messages that are sent and received on a computer SYN email I check my mail a couple of times a day. She's just received another mail message from them.4 PMDarmour made of small pieces of metal, worn by soldiers in the Middle Ages → voicemailCOLLOCATIONSverbssend mailPlease do not send personal mail to my work address.get/receive mailDid we get any mail this morning?the mail comes/arrivesThe mail had come late that day.the mail goes (out) (=it leaves an organization to be sent)What time does the mail go out?read your mailThe first thing he did was read his mail.open your mailShe opened her mail as she ate her breakfast.forward/redirect somebody's mail (=send it to a new address)The post office will forward your mail for a limited time.deliver the mailThe postman had just delivered the mail.sort mail (=put it into different piles, ready for delivery)Some mail still has to be sorted by hand.ADJECTIVES/NOUN + mail personal/private mail (=for one person to read and nobody else)He accused her of reading his private mail.fan mail (=letters from fans)He gets so much fan mail he had to employ a secretary to deal with it.hate mail (=letters expressing hate)She got threatening phone calls and hate mail.junk mail (=letters, usually advertisements, that you do not want)I only ever get junk mail and bills.registered mail (=letters insured against loss or damage)You have to sign for registered mail.
Examples from the Corpus
mail• Dwight Silverman can receive electronic mail via the Internet.• Editing was done via express mail.• Is that all the mail that came today?• No prisoner touches mail before it's been examined by staff.• Rambam printed business cards carrying a working telephone number complete with voice mail.• Sarah brought your mail over.internal mail• Then I sort the internal mail for the office.mail message• You may copy either a subset or all of your oldest 16 mail messages.• Up to 16 mail messages can be accessed at one time.• If all the above conditions are met, the new user will be notified by way of a mail message.• At the completion of the offline run, a mail message will be sent to the Offline Manager.• Please read the specified mail message for more information on the error.• If the entry is blank, the mail message has not been inspected.• Otherwise, the comment is used in the mail message to inform the package manager that approval has been denied. mailmail2 ●●● S3 verb [transitive] especially American English 1 TCMSENDto send a letter or package to someone SYN post British Englishmail something to somebody The weekly newsletter is mailed to women all over the country.2 to send a document to someone using a computer SYN emailmail something to somebody Can you mail it to me as an attachment? → mail something ↔ out→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
mail• Some one calculatingly vicious enough to mail death to people he had never met.• It s just an idea - mail me or the group with any suggestions.• The agents are looking for evidence that puts Kaczynski at each site where a bomb was mailed or placed, officials said.mail something to somebody• We'll just mail the flyers to all the people on the list.Mail, TheThe MailMail, The another name for The Daily MailFrom Longman Business Dictionarymailmail1 /meɪl/ noun [uncountable]1the system of collecting or delivering letters, packages etcSYNPOST BrEYour cheque is in the mail (=I have just mailed it to you).Do not send cash through the mail.The company sells its computers by mail.2the letters, packages etc that are sent to a particular person at a particular timeThe first thing he does when he arrives in the office is check his mail.My secretary sorts through the incoming mail (=mail being received).All outgoing mail (=mail being sent) must have a stamp on it.a sorting machine that processes first-class mail (=letters sent by the fastest normal mail service) by ZIP code3COMPUTING messages sent by emailHave you read your mail yet?I got five mails this morning. → electronic mail → voice mailmailmail2 verb [transitive]1American English to send a letter or package to someoneSYNpost BrEThe letter was mailed last Thursday.2COMPUTINGto send someone a message by emailYou can phone, fax, or mail me at the office.→ See Verb tableOrigin mail1 1. (1200-1300) Old French male “bag”2. (1200-1300) French maille, from Latin macula “spot, woven threads” 