mailbox

American  

[meyl-boks] / ˈmeɪlˌbɒks /

noun

• mailboxes
  plural

1. a public box in which mail is placed for pickup and delivery by the post office.

2. a private box, as at a home, into which mail is delivered by the mail carrier.

3. Computers. a file for storing electronic mail.

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mailbox British  

/ ˈmeɪlˌbɒks /

noun

1. 1. a slot, usually covered with a hinged flap, through which letters, etc are delivered to a building

   2. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): letter box.  a private box into which letters, etc, are delivered

2. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): postbox.  a public box into which letters, etc, are put for collection and delivery

3. (on a computer) the directory in which e-mail messages are stored; also used of the icon that can be clicked to provide access to e-mails

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• mailboxes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of mailbox

First recorded in 1800–10; mail ¹ + box ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mailbox mailboxes

"She likes to go to go to the mailbox, and she's like, 'Ms Dolly! Ms Dolly!' and I'm like, 'Well, let's go see if Ms Dolly sent you a book!'"

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

If checks need to be mailed, doing it from the post office rather than a mailbox or a blue U.S.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026

When the reporter placed a letter for Paxton in the mailbox, an envelope addressed to Warren Paxton, the attorney general’s given name, was visible.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026

Penaloza’s campaign mailers and video ads were so ubiquitous these past few weeks that they filled up my mailbox and interrupted my binging of Hulu’s “Vanderpump Villa.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 2026

I put that one on top of the mailbox outline so I don’t have to see it, and then I settle into the maroon one with Dad’s novel to try reading it again.

From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison

The mayor ruffled feathers again when the 17,000 notices were sent out and he wrote on X that second-home owners should check their mailboxes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026

Police also asked postal workers to report overflowing mailboxes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

The primary is June 2, but ballots start landing in voters’ mailboxes in less than a month.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026

Mark DiCamillo, director of the poll, said he was stunned by how fractured voters are and how little knowledge they have about the candidates less than 60 days before ballots start arriving in Californians’ mailboxes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 18, 2026

“Even if where they’re going is just two different mailboxes on the same street?”

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix