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  • general post office
    general post office
    noun
    (in the U.S. postal system) the main post office of a city, county, etc., that also has branch post offices. G.P.O., GPO
  • General Post Office
    General Post Office
    noun
    (in Britain until 1969) the department of the central Government that provided postal and telephone services
Synonyms

general post office

American  

noun

  1. (in the U.S. postal system) the main post office of a city, county, etc., that also has branch post offices. G.P.O., GPO


General Post Office British  

noun

  1. (in Britain until 1969) the department of the central Government that provided postal and telephone services

  2. the main post office in a locality

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of general post office

First recorded in 1650–60

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

For 30 years, he was a United States Postal Service employee, toiling mostly in the vast mail-sorting room beyond the imposing columns of what was New York City’s general post office in Midtown Manhattan.

From New York Times Sep. 18, 2022

The hall occupies what was once a mail-sorting room in the city’s general post office.

From Washington Post Aug. 25, 2021

Another 500 occupied the general post office, 200 moved into the Civic Art Gallery and there they stayed one month.

From Time Magazine Archive

Of Heriot's zeal and intelligence the general post office had no reason to complain, but he had a sensitive self-esteem, which was a most unfortunate possession as matters then stood.

From The History of the Post Office in British North America by Sir William Smith

The question was not decided at that time, and it was only when the course pursued by the general post office was so unsatisfactory to Canadians that it was again raised.

From The History of the Post Office in British North America by Sir William Smith

It turned out to be the Fullerton Hotel, which first opened in 1928 as the General Post Office.

From The Wall Street Journal Oct. 27, 2025

Nearby is the General Post Office, where, shortly before the 1916 Easter Rising, Patrick Pearse stood outside its doors and read the impassioned Proclamation of the Irish Republic.

From Washington Times Oct. 14, 2019

The new exhibit at GPO Witness History offers an immersive look at the 1916 Easter Uprising from underneath the General Post Office, which served as the rebel headquarters.

From Seattle Times Jan. 16, 2018

Staff at Unicorn Restorations spend up to 30 hours stripping old kiosks, repainting them in the same shades of red once stipulated by the General Post Office and putting in new glass.

From BBC Apr. 23, 2015

Even the London General Post Office, which was the swiftest and most reliable postal service in the world, would be flummoxed by that address.

From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood

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