mail

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Materials, such as letters and packages, handled in a postal system.
2. n. Postal material for a specific person or organization.
3. n. Material processed for distribution from a post office at a specified time: the morning mail.
4. n. A system by which letters, packages, and other postal materials are transported. Used in the plural with the.
5. n. A vehicle by which mail is transported.
6. n. Mail or messages sent electronically; e-mail.
7. v. To send by mail.
8. v. To send letters and other postal material by mail.
9. n. Flexible armor composed of small overlapping metal rings, loops of chain, or scales.
10. n. The protective covering of certain animals, as the shell of a turtle.
11. v. To cover or armor with mail.
12. n. Scots Rent, payment, or tribute.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A spot; especially, a spot or speck on a bird's feather; hence, a spotted or speckled feather.
2. n. In armor, a ring, link, or scale on a coat of mail. See def. 3.
3. n. A fabric of meshes, especially and almost exclusively of metal, used as a defense against weapons; a kind of armor, specifically called chain-mail, composed of rings of metal, interlinked as in a chain, but extended in width as well as in length. : ; . Chain-mail seems to have been introduced into the Roman army in imitation of the Gauls, and was much worn under the later empire. It was the favorite armor in Europe during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, but was slow of fabrication and expensive. It was of three kinds
4. n. By extension, armor of any sort.
5. n. Any defensive covering, as the shell of a lobster or a tortoise.
6. n. Nautical, a square utensil composed of rings interwoven like network, formerly used for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.
7. n. In weaving, a small metal eye or guide-ring in a heddle, through which the warp is threaded.
8. n. That part of a clasp which receives the spring.
9. To spot or stain.
10. To put mail upon; dress in mail; by extension, to protect with armor of any kind (see mail, n., 4): hardly used except in the past participle. See mailed.
11. To pinion or fasten down, as the wings of a hawk.
12. n. A bag, sack, or other receptacle for the conveyance or keeping of small articles of personal property or merchandise, especially the clothing or other baggage of a traveler, the equipments of a soldier, etc.
13. n. Specifically.
14. n. A bag for the conveyance of letters, papers, etc., particularly letters forwarded from one post-office to another under governmental authority and care; a mail-bag.
15. n. A mass or assemblage of mail-matter; collectively, the letters, papers, etc., conveyed by post; the matter sent in any way through the post-office.
16. n. The person by whom or the conveyance by which the mail is carried; hence, the system of transmission by public post; postal conveyance: as, to send a package by mail; news received through the mail.
17. To put in the mail; send by mail; put into the post-office for transmission by mail; post: as, to mail a letter.
18. n. A small coin of billon or silver current in France from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century. It had half the value of the denier. Sometimes called obole.
19. n. Rent; hence, payment at a fixed rate, as the rent or annual payment formerly extorted by the border robbers. Compare blackmail.
20. n. A mall or mallet.
21. n. A French game similar to chicane.
22. n. A weight equal to about 105 pounds avoirdupois.
23. n. The breast feathers of a hawk when full grown.

Wiktionary

1. n. regular delivery of letters and small parcels.
2. n. An organisation which operates such service (e.g. in Britain the Royal Mail)
3. n. A single batch of mail picked up or delivered by such a service
4. n. See mails.
5. n. electronic mail, e-mail: a computer network–based service for sending, storing, and forwarding electronic messages
6. n. armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together.
7. n. a monetary payment or tribute
8. n. rent
9. n. tax
10. v. to send (a letter or parcel) through the mail

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A spot.
2. n. A small piece of money; especially, an English silver half-penny of the time of Henry V.
3. n. Rent; tribute.
4. n. A flexible fabric made of metal rings interlinked. It was used especially for defensive armor.
5. n. Hence generally, armor, or any defensive covering.
6. n. A contrivance of interlinked rings, for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.
7. n. Any hard protective covering of an animal, as the scales and plates of reptiles, shell of a lobster, etc.
8. v. To arm with mail.
9. v. To pinion.
10. n. A bag; a wallet.
11. n. The bag or bags with the letters, 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.
12. n. That which comes in the mail; letters, etc., received through the post office.
13. n. A trunk, box, or bag, in which clothing, etc., may be carried.
14. v. To deliver into the custody of the postoffice officials, or place in a government letter box, for transmission by mail; to post.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the system whereby messages are transmitted via the post office
2. v. send via the postal service
3. n. (Middle Ages) flexible armor made of interlinked metal rings
4. n. the bags of letters and packages that are transported by the postal service
5. v. cause to be directed or transmitted to another place
6. n. a conveyance that transports the letters and packages that are conveyed by the postal system
7. n. any particular collection of letters or packages that is delivered