Chapter 59

Post, n. [AS., fr. L. postis, akin to ponere, positum, to place. See Position, and cf. 4th Post.] 1. A piece of timber, metal, or other solid substance, fixed, or to be fixed, firmly in an upright position, especially when intended as a stay or support to something else; a pillar; as, a hitching post; a fence post; the posts of a house.

They shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses.

Ex. xii. 7.

Then by main force pulled up, and on his shoulders bore, The gates of Azza, post and massy bar.

Milton.

Unto his order he was a noble post.

Chaucer.

Post, in the sense of an upright timber or strut, is used in composition, in such words as king-post, queen- post, crown-post, gatepost, etc.

2. The doorpost of a victualer's shop or inn, on which were chalked the scores of customers; hence, a score; a debt. [Obs.]

When God sends coin I will discharge your post.

S. Rowlands.

From pillar to post. See under Pillar. -- Knight of the post. See under Knight. -- Post hanger (Mach.), a bearing for a revolving shaft, adapted to be fastened to a post. -- Post hole, a hole in the ground to set the foot of a post in. -- Post mill, a form of windmill so constructed that the whole fabric rests on a vertical axis firmly fastened to the ground, and capable of being turned as the direction of the wind varies. -- Post and stall (Coal Mining), a mode of working in which pillars of coal are left to support the roof of the mine.

Post, n. [F. poste, LL. posta station, post (where horses were kept), properly, a fixed or set place, fem. fr. L. positus placed, p. p. of ponere. See Position, and cf. Post a pillar.] 1. The place at which anything is stopped, placed, or fixed; a station. Specifically: (a) A station, or one of a series of stations, established for the refreshment and accommodation of travelers on some recognized route; as, a stage or railway post. (b) A military station; the place at which a soldier or a body of troops is stationed; also, the troops at such a station. (c) The piece of ground to which a sentinel's walk is limited.

2. A messenger who goes from station; an express; especially, one who is employed by the government to carry letters and parcels regularly from one place to another; a letter carrier; a postman.

In certain places there be always fresh posts, to carry that further which is brought unto them by the other.

Abp. Abbot.

I fear my Julia would not deign my lines, Receiving them from such a worthless post.

Shak.

3. An established conveyance for letters from one place or station to another; especially, the governmental system in any country for carrying and distributing letters and parcels; the post office; the mail; hence, the carriage by which the mail is transported.

I send you the fair copy of the poem on dullness, which I should not care to hazard by the common post.

Pope.

4. Haste or speed, like that of a messenger or mail carrier. [Obs.] "In post he came." Shak.

5. One who has charge of a station, especially of a postal station. [Obs.]

He held office of postmaster, or, as it was then called, post, for several years.

Palfrey.

6. A station, office, or position of service, trust, or emolument; as, the post of duty; the post of danger.

The post of honor is a private station.

Addison.

7. A size of printing and writing paper. See the Table under Paper.

Post and pair, an old game at cards, in which each player a hand of three cards. B. Jonson. -- Post bag, a mail bag. -- Post bill, a bill of letters mailed by a postmaster. -- Post chaise, or Post coach, a carriage usually with four wheels, for the conveyance of travelers who travel post. -- Post day, a day on which the mall arrives or departs. -- Post hackney, a hired post horse. Sir H. Wotton. -- Post horn, a horn, or trumpet, carried and blown by a carrier of the public mail, or by a coachman. -- Post horse, a horse stationed, intended, or used for the post. -- Post hour, hour for posting letters. Dickens. -- Post office. (a) An office under governmental superintendence, where letters, papers, and other mailable matter, are received and distributed; a place appointed for attending to all business connected with the mail. (b) The governmental system for forwarding mail matter. -- Postoffice order. See Money order, under Money. -- Post road, or Post route, a road or way over which the mail is carried. -- Post town. (a) A town in which post horses are kept. (b) A town in which a post office is established by law. -- To ride post, to ride, as a carrier of dispatches, from place to place; hence, to ride rapidly, with as little delay as possible. -- To travel post, to travel, as a post does, by relays of horses, or by keeping one carriage to which fresh horses are attached at each stopping place.

Post (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Posted; p. pr. & vb. n. Posting.] 1. To attach to a post, a wall, or other usual place of affixing public notices; to placard; as, to post a notice; to post playbills.

Formerly, a large post was erected before the sheriff's office, or in some public place, upon which legal notices were displayed. This way of advertisement has not entirely gone of use.

2. To hold up to public blame or reproach; to advertise opprobriously; to denounce by public proclamation; as, to post one for cowardice.

On pain of being posted to your sorrow Fail not, at four, to meet me.

Granville.

3. To enter (a name) on a list, as for service, promotion, or the like.

4. To assign to a station; to set; to place; as, to post a sentinel. "It might be to obtain a ship for a lieutenant, . . . or to get him posted." De Quincey.

5. (Bookkeeping) To carry, as an account, from the journal to the ledger; as, to post an account; to transfer, as accounts, to the ledger.

You have not posted your books these ten years.

Arbuthnot.

6. To place in the care of the post; to mail; as, to post a letter.

7. To inform; to give the news to; to make (one) acquainted with the details of a subject; -- often with up.

Thoroughly posted up in the politics and literature of the day.

Lond. Sat. Rev.

To post off, to put off; to delay. [Obs.] "Why did I, venturously, post off so great a business?" Baxter. -- To post over, to hurry over. [Obs.] Fuller.

Post, v. i. [Cf. OF. poster. See 4th Post.] 1. To travel with post horses; figuratively, to travel in haste. "Post seedily to my lord your husband." Shak.

And post o'er land and ocean without rest.

Milton.

2. (Man.) To rise and sink in the saddle, in accordance with the motion of the horse, esp. in trotting. [Eng.]

Post, adv. With post horses; hence, in haste; as, to travel post.

Post`-ab*do"men (?), n. [Pref. post- + abdomen.] (Zoˆl.) That part of a crustacean behind the cephalothorax; -- more commonly called abdomen.

Post"a*ble (?), a. Capable of being carried by, or as by, post. [Obs.] W. Montagu.

Post"act` (?), n. An act done afterward.

Post"age (?), n. The price established by law to be paid for the conveyance of a letter or other mailable matter by a public post.

Postage stamp, a government stamp required to be put upon articles sent by mail in payment of the postage, esp. an adhesive stamp issued and sold for that purpose.

Post"al (?), a. [Cf. F. postal.] Belonging to the post office or mail service; as, postal arrangements; postal authorities.

Postal card, or Post card, a card sold by the government for transmission through the mails, at a lower rate of postage than a sealed letter. The message is written on one side of the card, and the direction on the other. -- Postal money order. See Money order, under Money. -- Postal note, an order payable to bearer, for a sum of money (in the United States less than five dollars under existing law), issued from one post office and payable at another specified office. -- Postal Union, a union for postal purposes entered into by the most important powers, or governments, which have agreed to transport mail matter through their several territories at a stipulated rate.

Post*a"nal (?), a. [Pref. post- + anal.] (Anat.) Situated behind, or posterior to, the anus.

Post*ax"i*al (?), a. [Pref. post- + axial.] (Anat.) Situated behind any transverse axis in the body of an animal; caudal; posterior; especially, behind, or on the caudal or posterior (that is, ulnar or fibular) side of, the axis of a vertebrate limb.

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Post"boy` (?), n. 1. One who rides post horses; a position; a courier.

2. A boy who carries letters from the post.

Post"-cap`tain (?), n. A captain of a war vessel whose name appeared, or was "posted," in the seniority list of the British navy, as distinguished from a commander whose name was not so posted. The term was also used in the United States navy; but no such commission as post-captain was ever recognized in either service, and the term has fallen into disuse.

||Post"ca`va (?), n.; pl. PostcavÊ . [NL. See Post-, and Cave, n.] ||(Anat.) The inferior vena cava. -- Post"ca`val (#), a. B. G. Wilder.

Post*clav"i*cle (?), n. [Pref. post- + clavicle.] (Anat.) A bone in the pectoral girdle of many fishes projecting backward from the clavicle. -- Post`*cla*vic"u*lar (#), a.

Post*com"mis*sure (?), n. [Pref. post- + commisure.] (Anat.) A transverse commisure in the posterior part of the roof of the third ventricle of the brain; the posterior cerebral commisure. B. G. Wilder.

Post`com*mun"ion (?), n. [Pref. post- + communion.] 1. (Ch. of Eng. & Prot. Epis. Ch.) The concluding portion of the communion service.

2. (R. C. Ch.) A prayer or prayers which the priest says at Mass, after the ablutions.

||Post*cor"nu (?), n.; pl. Postcornua (#). [NL. See Post-, and Cornu.] ||(Anat.) The posterior horn of each lateral ventricle of the brain. B. ||G. Wilder.

Post"date` (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Postdated; p. pr. & vb. n. Postdating.] [Pref. post- + date.] 1. To date after the real time; as, to postdate a contract, that is, to date it later than the time when it was in fact made.

2. To affix a date to after the event.

Post"date`, a. Made or done after the date assigned.

Of these [predictions] some were postdate; cunningly made after the thing came to pass.

Fuller.

Post"date`, n. A date put to a bill of exchange or other paper, later than that when it was actually made.

{ Post`di*lu"vi*al (?), Post`di*lu"vi*an (?), } a. [Pref. post- + diluvial, diluvian.] Being or happening after the flood in Noah's days.

Post`di*lu"vi*an, n. One who lived after the flood.

Post"-dis*sei"zin (?), n. [Pref. post- + disseizin.] (O. Eng. Law) A subsequent disseizin committed by one of lands which the disseizee had before recovered of the same disseizor; a writ founded on such subsequent disseizin, now abolished. Burrill. Tomlins.

Post`-dis*sei"zor (?), n. [Pref. post- + disseizor.] (O. Eng. Law) A person who disseizes another of lands which the disseizee had before recovered of the same disseizor. Blackstone.

||Post"e*a (?), n. [L., after these or those (things), afterward.] ||(Law) The return of the judge before whom a cause was tried, after a ||verdict, of what was done in the cause, which is indorsed on the nisi ||prius record. Wharton.

Pos"tel (?), n. Apostle. [Obs.] Chaucer.

Post`en*ceph"a*lon (?), n. (Anat.) The metencephalon.

Post"en*try (?), n. [Pref. post- + entry.] 1. A second or subsequent, at the customhouse, of goods which had been omitted by mistake.

2. (Bookkeeping) An additional or subsequent entry.

Post"er (?), n. 1. A large bill or placard intended to be posted in public places.

2. One who posts bills; a billposter.

Post"er, n. 1. One who posts, or travels expeditiously; a courier. "Posters of the sea and land." Shak.

2. A post horse. "Posters at full gallop." C. Lever.

Pos*te"ri*or (ps*t"r*r), a. [L. posterior, compar. of posterus coming after, from post after. See Post-.] 1. Later in time; hence, later in the order of proceeding or moving; coming after; -- opposed to prior.

Hesiod was posterior to Homer.

Broome.

2. Situated behind; hinder; -- opposed to anterior.

3. (Anat.) At or toward the caudal extremity; caudal; -- in human anatomy often used for dorsal.

4. (Bot.) On the side next the axis of inflorescence; -- said of an axillary flower. Gray.

Pos*te`ri*or"i*ty (?), n. [Cf. F. postÈrioritÈ.] The state of being later or subsequent; as, posteriority of time, or of an event; -- opposed to priority.

Pos*te"ri*or*ly (?), adv. Subsequently in time; also, behind in position.

Pos*te"ri*ors (?), n. pl. The hinder parts, as of an animal's body. Swift.

Pos*ter"i*ty (?), n. [L. posteritas: cf. F. postÈritÈ. See Posterior.] 1. The race that proceeds from a progenitor; offspring to the furthest generation; the aggregate number of persons who are descended from an ancestor of a generation; descendants; -- contrasted with ancestry; as, the posterity of Abraham.

If [the crown] should not stand in thy posterity.

Shak.

2. Succeeding generations; future times. Shak.

Their names shall be transmitted to posterity.

Shak.

Their names shall be transmitted to posterity.

Smalridge.

Pos"tern (?), n. [OF. posterne, posterle, F. poterne, fr. L. posterula, fr. posterus coming after. See Posterior.] 1. Originally, a back door or gate; a private entrance; hence, any small door or gate.

He by a privy postern took his flight.

Spenser.

Out at the postern, by the abbey wall.

Shak.

2. (Fort.) A subterraneous passage communicating between the parade and the main ditch, or between the ditches and the interior of the outworks. Mahan.

Pos"tern, a. Back; being behind; private. "The postern door." Dryden.

Pos"te*ro- (&?;). A combining form meaning posterior, back; as, postero-inferior, situated back and below; postero-lateral, situated back and at the side.

Post`ex*ist" (?), v. i. [Pref. post- + exist.] To exist after; to live subsequently. [Obs. or R.]

Post`ex*ist"ence (?), n. Subsequent existence.

Post`ex*ist"ent (?), a. Existing or living after. [R.] "Postexistent atoms." Cudworth.

Post"fact` (?), a. [See Post-, and Fact.] Relating to a fact that occurs after another.

Post"fact`, n. A fact that occurs after another. "Confirmed upon the postfact." Fuller.

||Post`fac"tum (?), n. [LL.] (Rom. & Eng. Law) Same as Postfact.

Post"-fine` (?), n. [Pref. post- + fine.] (O. Eng. Law) A duty paid to the king by the cognizee in a fine of lands, when the same was fully passed; -- called also the king's silver.

Post"fix (?), n.; pl. Postfixes (#). [Pref. post- + -fix, as in prefix: cf. F. postfixe.] (Gram.) A letter, syllable, or word, added to the end of another word; a suffix. Parkhurst.

Post*fix" (?), v. t. To annex; specifically (Gram.), to add or annex, as a letter, syllable, or word, to the end of another or principal word; to suffix. Parkhurst.

Post*fron"tal (?), a. [Pref. post- + frontal.] (Anat.) Situated behind the frontal bone or the frontal region of the skull; -- applied especially to a bone back of and below the frontal in many animals. -- n. A postfrontal bone.

||Post*fur"ca (?), n.; pl. PostfurcÊ (#). [NL., fr. post behind + furca ||a fork.] (Zoˆl.) One of the internal thoracic processes of the ||sternum of an insect.

Post*gen"i*ture (?; 135), n. [Pref. post- + L. genitura birth, geniture.] The condition of being born after another in the same family; -- distinguished from primogeniture. [R.] Sir T. Browne.

Post*gle"noid (?), a. [Pref. post- + glenoid.] (Anat.) Situated behind the glenoid fossa of the temporal bone.

Post`haste" (?), n. Haste or speed in traveling, like that of a post or courier. Shak.

Post`haste, adv. With speed or expedition; as, he traveled posthaste; to send posthaste. Shak.

Pos*thet"o*my (?), n. [Gr. po`sqh prepuce + te`mnein to cut.] (Med.) Circumcision. Dunglison.

Post"house` (?), n. 1. A house established for the convenience of the post, where relays of horses can be obtained.

2. A house for distributing the malls; a post office.

{ Post"hume (?), Post"humed (?), } a. Posthumous. [Obs.] I. Watts. Fuller.

Post"hu*mous (?; 277), a. [L. posthumus, postumus, properly, last; hence, late born (applied to children born after the father's death, or after he had made his will), superl. of posterus, posterior. See Posterior.] 1. Born after the death of the father, or taken from the dead body of the mother; as, a posthumous son or daughter.

2. Published after the death of the author; as, posthumous works; a posthumous edition.

3. Being or continuing after one's death; as, a posthumous reputation. Addison. Sir T. Browne.

Post"hu*mous*ly, adv. In a posthumous manner; after one's decease.

Pos"tic (?), a. [L. posticus, fr. post after, behind.] Backward. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

Pos"ti*cous (?), a. [L. posticus.] (Bot.) (a) Posterior. (b) Situated on the outer side of a filament; -- said of an extrorse anther.

Pos"til (?), n. [F. postille, apostille, LL. postilla, probably from L. post illa (sc. verba) after those (words). Cf. Apostil.] 1. Originally, an explanatory note in the margin of the Bible, so called because written after the text; hence, a marginal note; a comment.

Langton also made postils upon the whole Bible.

Foxe.

2. (R. C. Ch. & Luth. Ch.) A short homily or commentary on a passage of Scripture; as, the first postils were composed by order of Charlemagne.

Pos"til, v. t. [Cf. LL. postillare.] To write marginal or explanatory notes on; to gloss. Bacon.

Pos"til, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Postiled (&?;) or Postilled; p. pr. & vb. n. Postiling or Postilling.] To write postils, or marginal notes; to comment; to postillate.

Postiling and allegorizing on Scripture.

J. H. Newman.

Pos"til*er (?), n. [Written also postiller.] One who writers marginal notes; one who illustrates the text of a book by notes in the margin. Sir T. Browne.

Pos*til"ion (?), n. [F. postillon, It. postiglione, fr. posta post. See Post a postman.] One who rides and guides the first pair of horses of a coach or post chaise; also, one who rides one of the horses when one pair only is used. [Written also postillion.]

Pos"til*late (?), v. t. [LL. postillatus, p. p. of postillare.] To explain by marginal notes; to postil.

Tracts . . . postillated by his own hand.

C. Knight.

Pos"til*late, v. i. 1. To write postils; to comment.

2. To preach by expounding Scripture verse by verse, in regular order.

Pos`til*la"tion (?), n. [LL. postillatio.] The act of postillating; exposition of Scripture in preaching.

Pos"til*la`tor (?), n. [LL.] One who postillates; one who expounds the Scriptures verse by verse.

Pos"til*ler (?), n. See Postiler.

Post"ing (?), n. 1. The act of traveling post.

2. (Bookkeeping) The act of transferring an account, as from the journal to the ledger.

Posting house, a post house.

Post`li*min"i*ar (?), a. [See Postliminium.] Contrived, done, or existing subsequently. "Postliminious after applications of them to their purposes." South.

Post`li*min"i*a*ry (?), a. Pertaining to, or involving, the right of postliminium.

{ ||Post`li*min"i*um (?), Post*lim"i*ny (?), } n. [L. postliminium, post after + limen, liminis, a threshold.] 1. (Rom. Antiq.) The return to his own country, and his former privileges, of a person who had gone to sojourn in a foreign country, or had been banished, or taken by an enemy. Burrill.

2. (Internat. Law) The right by virtue of which persons and things taken by an enemy in war are restored to their former state when coming again under the power of the nation to which they belonged. Kent.

Post"lude (?), n. [Pref. post- + -lude, as in prelude.] (Med.) A voluntary at the end of a service.

Post"man (?), n.; pl. Postmen (&?;). 1. A post or courier; a letter carrier.

2. (Eng. Law) One of the two most experienced barristers in the Court of Exchequer, who have precedence in motions; -- so called from the place where he sits. The other of the two is called the tubman. Whishaw.

Post"mark` (?), n. The mark, or stamp, of a post office on a letter, giving the place and date of mailing or of arrival.

Post"mark`, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Postmarked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Postmarking.] To mark with a post-office stamp; as, to postmark a letter or parcel.

Post"mas`ter (?), n. 1. One who has charge of a station for the accommodation of travelers; one who supplies post horses.

2. One who has charge of a post office, and the distribution and forwarding of mails.

Post"mas`ter-gen"er*al (?), n.; pl. Postmasters-general. The chief officer of the post-office department of a government. In the United States the postmaster-general is a member of the cabinet.

Post"mas`ter*ship, n. The office of postmaster.

Post`me*rid"i*an (?), a. [L. postmeridianus; post after + meridianus. See Meridian.] 1. Coming after the sun has passed the meridian; being in, or belonging to, the afternoon. (Abbrev. P. M.)

2. Fig., belonging to the after portion of life; late. [R.]

||Post-mor"tem (?), a. [L., after death.] After death; as, post-mortem ||rigidity.

Post-mortem examination (Med.), an examination of the body made after the death of the patient; an autopsy.

||Post*na"res (?), n. pl. [NL. See Post-, and Nares.] (Anat.) The ||posterior nares. See Nares.

Post*na"tal (?), a. [Pref. post- + natal.] After birth; subsequent to birth; as, postnatal infanticide; postnatal diseases.

Post"nate (?), a. [LL. postnatus second or subsequently born; L. post after + natus born.] Subsequent. "The graces and gifts of the spirit are postnate." [Archaic] Jer. Taylor.

Post" note` (?). (Com.) A note issued by a bank, payable at some future specified time, as distinguished from a note payable on demand. Burrill.

Post*nup"tial (?), a. [Pref. post- + nuptial.] Being or happening after marriage; as, a postnuptial settlement on a wife. Kent.

{ Post-o"bit (?), n., or Post-o"bit bond` }. [Pref. post- + obit.] (Law) A bond in which the obligor, in consideration of having received a certain sum of money, binds himself to pay a larger sum, on unusual interest, on the death of some specified individual from whom he has expectations. Bouvier.

||Post*ob`lon*ga"ta (?), n. [NL. See Post-, and Oblongata.] (Anat.) The ||posterior part of the medulla oblongata. B. G. Wilder.

Post*oc"u*lar (?), a. & n. [Pref. post- + ocular.] (Zoˆl.) Same as Postorbital.

Post" of`fice (?), n. See under 4th Post.

Post*o"ral (?), a. [Pref. post- + oral.] (Anat.) Situated behind, or posterior to, the mouth.

Post*or"bit*al (?), a. [Pref. post- + orbital.] (Anat. & Zoˆl.) Situated behind the orbit; as, the postorbital scales of some fishes and reptiles. -- n. A postorbital bone or scale.

Post"paid` (?), a. Having the postage prepaid, as a letter.

Post*pal"a*tine (?), a. [Pref. post- + palatine.] (Anat.) Situated behind the palate, or behind the palatine bones.

Post*pli"o*cene (?), a. (Geol.) [Pref. post- + pliocene.] Of or pertaining to the period immediately following the Pliocene; Pleistocene. Also used as a noun. See Quaternary.

Post*pone" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Postponed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Postponing.] [L. postponere, postpositum; post after + ponere to place, put. See Post-, and Position.] 1. To defer to a future or later time; to put off; also, to cause to be deferred or put off; to delay; to adjourn; as, to postpone the consideration of a bill to the following day, or indefinitely.

His praise postponed, and never to be paid.

Cowper.

2. To place after, behind, or below something, in respect to precedence, preference, value, or importance.

All other considerations should give way and be postponed to this.

Locke.

Syn. -- To adjourn; defer; delay; procrastinate.

Post*pone"ment (?), n. The act of postponing; a deferring, or putting off, to a future time; a temporary delay. Macaulay.

Post*pon"ence (?), n. [From L. postponens, p. pr.] The act of postponing, in sense 2. [Obs.] Johnson.

Post*pon"er (?), n. One who postpones.

Post*pose" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Postposed (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Postposing.] [F. postposer. See Post-, and Pose, v. t.] To postpone. [Obs.] Fuller.