postage
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of postage
Explanation
Postage is the cost of sending something in the mail. If the postage for mailing your brother's collection of porcelain pigs is too high, you might want to bring them with you when you drive to his house instead. Use the noun postage for the expense of mailing letters and packages, or for the stamps themselves: "Don't forget to attach the postage before you put that in the mailbox!" Some people, in fact, refer to them as "postage stamps." Postage comes from post, "mail system": early mail carriers were "posted" along a road, like a relay race, to speed delivery.
Vocabulary lists containing postage
List 8
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -age
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for November 11–November 17, 2023
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
A postage stamp shows the vessel in operation at the time.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Streets, postage stamps and at least one former school building bear his name.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 12, 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 championships are considered a major cultural event in the Netherlands, even featuring special postage stamps with the logo of a ladle and potato masher.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
I slipped two twenty-dollar bills in my next letter, and asked him to use some of it on postage.
From "I Will Always Write Back" by Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Ganda
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.
