poste restante

American  

[pohst re-stahnt, res-tahnt, pawst res-tahnt] / ˌpoʊst rɛˈstɑnt, ˈrɛs tɑnt, pɔst rɛsˈtɑ̃t /

noun

1. a direction written on mail to indicate that it should be held at the post office until called for by the addressee.

2. Chiefly British. a department in charge of such mail.

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poste restante British  

/ ˈpəʊst rɪˈstænt, pɔst rɛstɑ̃t /

noun

1. (not in the US and Canada) an address on mail indicating that it should be kept at a specified post office until collected by the addressee

2. the mail-delivery service or post-office department that handles mail having this address

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Etymology

Origin of poste restante

1760–70; < French: literally, standing post

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

poste restante

Leisurely two-sided correspondences were difficult to sustain, with Chatwin roving from one poste restante to the next.

From New York Times ● Feb. 25, 2011

When I showed my card to the poste restante clerk, he went carefully through the letters bearing the initial of my name and denied that there was any for me.

From Familiar Spanish Travels by William Dean Howells

If you write, address to me here, poste restante, as I shall probably stay the winter over.

From Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 3 With His Letters and Journals by Thomas Moore

What you mean by "poste restante," God knows.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 85, November, 1864 by Various

Dear Sir, My last to you was of the 21st of November, addressed to Milan, poste restante, according to the desire expressed through Mrs. Paradise.

From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 2 by Thomas Jefferson Randolph