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.
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
Known as the Soundhouse Tapes, the three-track demo gained them a cult following, selling 5,000 copies by mail order.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 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
Neill plays the awkward, ignorant Scottish farmer who arranges for a mail-order marriage with Holly Hunter’s mute pianist and then becomes possessive and driven to jealous despair.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
Critics say their role negotiating pricing and discounts with drug companies has made some medicines less affordable, while at the same time parent companies of large PBMs also own mail-order, specialty, or retail pharmacies.
From Barron's ● May 5, 2026
When Reed Hastings co-founded Netflix as a mail-order DVD business in 1997, he wanted to create a work environment that didn’t limit employees with rigid procedures and that pushed everyone to take ownership of decision-making.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 18, 2026
Netflix, began in Scotts Valley, Calif., as a mail-order business.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 16, 2026
It’s likely Holmes also wanted Pitezel to gather whatever intelligence he could about the cure and its labeling, so that he could mimic the product and sell it through his own mail-order drug company.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
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.
