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• postage stamp
  postage stamp

  noun

  a small gummed label issued by postal authorities that can be affixed to an envelope, postcard, or package as evidence that postal charges have been paid.
• postage-stamp
  postage-stamp

  adjective

  of very small area or size.

postage stamp

¹ American  

noun

postage stamps plural

1. a small gummed label issued by postal authorities that can be affixed to an envelope, postcard, or package as evidence that postal charges have been paid.

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postage-stamp ² American  

[poh-stij-stamp] / ˈpoʊ stɪdʒˌstæmp /

adjective

Informal.

1. of very small area or size.

   a postage-stamp bikini.

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postage stamp British  

noun

1. a printed paper label with a gummed back for attaching to mail as an official indication that the required postage has been paid

2. a mark directly printed or embossed on an envelope, postcard, etc, serving the same function

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• postage stamps
  plural

Etymology

Origin of postage stamp¹

First recorded in 1830–40

Origin of postage-stamp²

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

postage stamp postage-stamp

A postage stamp shows the vessel in operation at the time.

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026

Three dozen works, some as tiny as a postage stamp, show the stunning range of styles and artists that the museum has championed across the years.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

The analogy is shrinking a 4K image to the size of a postage stamp — except the picture is still 4K.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 6, 2026

The patch is a soft and stretchy device, about the size of a postage stamp, that adheres to the skin.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 20, 2024

“It’s okay!” he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor, “it’s a soft landing, you can jump!”

From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling

By their very nature, tall and fast bowlers can leak runs and are more likely to if there is a postage-stamp boundary on one half of the ground.

From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2024

“It’s just a postage-stamp suburban yard, but there’s a lot going on here,” Ransdell said of the yard’s abundant wildlife, which counts rabbits, skunks, raccoons and possums as visitors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2024

Smith shares a postage-stamp Queens apartment with her husband, Matt.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 6, 2023

From there, and in no particular order, the head of a woman in a leather pilot’s cap appears against clouds, an image as heroic as a postage-stamp; then we see her tumbling through space.

From New York Times ● Mar. 11, 2021

“I can try wetting it with the postage-stamp glue in the next batch,” I proposed.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam