an order for goods received or shipped through the mail.
the business of selling merchandise through the mail.
an order for merchandise sent by post
a system of buying and selling merchandise through the post
( as modifier )
a mail-order firm
An Americanism dating back to 1865–70
First recorded in 1865–70
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To determine whether a pharmacy service was mail order, in-person or another type, the analysis used the classification listed in the record of each prescription.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025
The firm said there had been a regular mail order.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2024
Colonna Brothers of North Bergen, N.J., is recalling 1.5-ounce Ground Cinnamon and 2.25-ounce Supreme Tradition Ground Cinnamon distributed nationwide and through mail order.
From Salon ● Mar. 8, 2024
We get all of our car rentals from Costco, and we first started using the Costco pharmacy in the warehouse but now we get it all mail order from Costco, and that’s a tremendous saving.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 10, 2023
He nodded toward the package sitting next to Grace, a mail order from the kitchen store.
From "Far from the Tree" by Robin Benway
A London shop catering for people who are left-handed was doing a brisk trade both in-store and via mail-order.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Bean could see that the future of mail-order retail was online, even if many of their customers remained staunchly analog.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
The consumer’s arrival was heralded on Wall Street in 1906 by the $40 million IPO of Sears, Roebuck, whose mail-order catalog brought store goods to even isolated rural homes.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
Moreover, women may suffer “irreparable harm” if these mail-order prescriptions are allowed to continue, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
I head down the steps to see if my mail-order copy of The Catcher in the Rye is in the box.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
