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• mail order
  mail order

  noun

  an order for goods received or shipped through the mail.
• mail-order
  mail-order

  adjective

  pertaining to or obtained by mail order.

mail order

¹ American  

noun

1. an order for goods received or shipped through the mail.

2. the business of selling merchandise through the mail.

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mail-order ² American  

[meyl-awr-der] / ˈmeɪlˌɔr dər /

adjective

1. pertaining to or obtained by mail order.

   a dozen mail-order rosebushes.

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verb (used with object)

1. to order (merchandise) by mail.

   to mail-order fruitcakes for Christmas.

mail order British  

noun

1. an order for merchandise sent by post

2. 1. a system of buying and selling merchandise through the post

   2. ( as modifier )

      a mail-order firm

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Etymology

Origin of mail order¹

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Origin of mail-order²

First recorded in 1865–70

Example Sentences

Rosalba worked in the accounting department of a mail order catalog company and later helped her husband run a mechanic shop in Granada Hills.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2026

In some cases, there is no coupon, and patients can purchase their medication from the drugmaker’s website “or through a limited set of mail order pharmacies,” according to TrumpRx.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 5, 2026

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

He had quit my Aunt Mary’s by then and was working for the McCoy Publishing Company, a mail order business that supplied emblems, aprons, and books to the Masonic Order.

From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride