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mailboat

American  
[meyl-boht] / ˈmeɪlˌboʊt /
Or mail boat

noun

  1. a boat for transporting mail.


Etymology

Origin of mailboat

An Americanism dating back to 1785–95; mail 1 + boat

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Others are blue-collar communities whose lifeblood depends on fishing, farming and the groceries and fuel delivered by a weekly mailboat that is nowhere to be seen.

From Washington Post • Sep. 8, 2019

In July 1871 Morris and three companions, one of them the Icelandic scholar Eiríkr Magnússon, travelled by Danish mailboat from Edinburgh's Granton harbour to Reykjavík, a four-day journey.

From The Guardian • Mar. 27, 2010

Then no word of him until the monthly mailboat came in September.

From Alaska Days with John Muir by Young, Samual Hall

The homeward bound mailboat arrived before Rideau the next day, and when she stopped at the first port connected by cable, Maxwell despatched a message to London: "Wire Hyslop to meet me by Malemba."

From The League of the Leopard by Bindloss, Harold

It's getting so desperate that I had thought for a moment, since we can't make our way south, whether I wouldn't try to steer west and make an attempt to reach the mailboat track.

From The Shadow Line; a confession by Conrad, Joseph