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definitions

last post

noun
  1. See under post2(def 7).

post

2
[pohst]
noun
  1. a position of duty, employment, or trust to which one is assigned or appointed: a diplomatic post.
  2. the station or rounds of a person on duty, as a soldier, sentry or nurse.
  3. a military station with permanent buildings.
  4. a local unit of a veterans' organization.
  5. trading post.
  6. a place in the stock exchange where a particular stock is traded.
  7. (in the British military services) either of two bugle calls (first post and last post) giving notice of the time to retire for the night, similar in purpose to the U.S. taps.
  8. the body of troops occupying a military station.
verb (used with object)
  1. to place or station at a post.
  2. to provide or put up, as bail.
  3. to appoint to a post of command.

Origin of post

2
1590–1600; < French poste < Italian posto < Latin positum, neuter of positus, past participle of pōnere to place, put; cf. posit

Synonyms for post

1. assignment.

Synonym study

1. See appointment.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for last post

last post

noun (in the British military services)
  1. a bugle call that orders men to retire for sleep
  2. a similar call sounded at military funerals

post

1
noun
  1. a length of wood, metal, etc, fixed upright in the ground to serve as a support, marker, point of attachment, etc
  2. horse racing
    1. either of two upright poles marking the beginning (starting post) and end (winning post) of a racecourse
    2. the finish of a horse race
  3. any of the main upright supports of a piece of furniture, such as a four-poster bed
verb (tr)
  1. (sometimes foll by up) to fasten or put up (a notice) in a public place
  2. to announce by means of or as if by means of a posterto post banns
  3. to publish (a name) on a list

Word Origin for post

Old English, from Latin postis; related to Old High German first ridgepole, Greek pastas colonnade

post

2
noun
  1. a position to which a person is appointed or elected; appointment; job
  2. a position or station to which a person, such as a sentry, is assigned for duty
  3. a permanent military establishment
  4. British either of two military bugle calls (first post and last post) ordering or giving notice of the time to retire for the night
  5. See trading post (def. 1), trading post (def. 2)
verb
  1. (tr) to assign to or station at a particular place or position
  2. mainly British to transfer to a different unit or ship on taking up a new appointment, etc

Word Origin for post

C16: from French poste, from Italian posto, ultimately from Latin pōnere to place

post

3
noun
  1. mainly British letters, packages, etc, that are transported and delivered by the Post Office; mail
  2. mainly British a single collection or delivery of mail
  3. British an official system of mail delivery
  4. an item of electronic mail made publicly available
  5. (formerly) any of a series of stations furnishing relays of men and horses to deliver mail over a fixed route
  6. a rider who carried mail between such stations
  7. British another word for pillar box
  8. British short for post office
  9. a size of writing or printing paper, 15 1/4 by 19 inches or 16 1/2 by 21 inches (large post)
  10. any of various book sizes, esp 5 1/4 by 8 1/4 inches (post octavo) and 8 1/4 by 10 1/4 inches (post quarto)
  11. by return of post British by the next mail in the opposite direction
verb
  1. (tr) mainly British to send by postUS and Canadian word: mail
  2. (tr) to make (electronic mail) publicly available
  3. (tr) accounting
    1. to enter (an item) in a ledger
    2. (often foll by up)to compile or enter all paper items in (a ledger)
  4. (tr) to inform of the latest news (esp in the phrase keep someone posted)
  5. (intr) (of a rider) to rise from and reseat oneself in a saddle in time with the motions of a trotting horse; perform a rising trot
  6. (intr) (formerly) to travel with relays of post horses
  7. archaic to travel or dispatch with speed; hasten
adverb
  1. with speed; rapidly
  2. by means of post horses

Word Origin for post

C16: via French from Italian poste, from Latin posita something placed, from pōnere to put, place

POST

abbreviation for
  1. point of sales terminal
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
Word Origin and History for last post

post

n.1

"a timber set upright," from Old English post "pillar, doorpost," and Old French post "post, upright beam," both from Latin postis "door, post, doorpost," perhaps from por- "forth" (see pro-) + stare "to stand" (see stet). Similar compound in Sanskrit prstham "back, roof, peak," Avestan parshti "back," Greek pastas "porch in front of a house, colonnade," Middle High German virst "ridepole," Lithuanian pirstas, Old Church Slavonic pristu "finger" (PIE *por-st-i-).

post

n.2

"place when on duty," 1590s, from Middle French poste "place where one is stationed," also, "station for post horses" (16c.), from Italian posto "post, station," from Vulgar Latin *postum, from Latin positum, neuter past participle of ponere "to place, to put" (see position (n.)). Earliest sense in English was military; meaning "job, position" is attested 1690s.

post

n.3

"mail system," c.1500, "riders and horses posted at intervals," from post (n.2) on notion of riders and horses "posted" at intervals along a route to speed mail in relays, probably formed on model of Middle French poste in this sense (late 15c.). Meaning "system for carrying mail" is from 1660s.

post

v.4

"to put up bail money," 1781, from one of the nouns post, but which one is uncertain. Related: Posted; posting.

post

v.1

"to affix (a paper, etc.) to a post" (in a public place), hence, "to make known," 1630s, from post (n.1). Related: Posted; posting.

post

v.2

in bookkeeping, "to transfer from a day book to a formal account," 1620s, from post (n.2) via a figurative sense of "carrying" by post horses. Related: Posted; posting.

post

v.3

"to send through the postal system," 1837, from post (n.3). Earlier, "to travel with relays of horses" (1530s). Related: Posted; posting.

post

v.5

"to station at a post," from post (n.2). Related: Posted; posting.

post

adv.

1540s, "with post horses," hence, "rapidly;" especially in the phrase to ride post "go rapidly," from post (n.3).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with last post

post

see deaf as a post; from pillar to post; keep posted.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.