special delivery

American

noun

(in the U.S. Postal Service) delivery of mail outside the regularly scheduled hours, by a special messenger, upon the payment of an extra fee.

special delivery British

noun

the delivery of a piece of mail outside the time of a scheduled delivery

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

special-delivery

adjective

Etymology

Origin of special delivery

An Americanism dating back to 1880–85

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.

Walmart already ships items from its website to homes, and about 95% of U.S. households can get same-day delivery of a more limited, mostly store-based assortment.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

Dollar Tree has existing same-day delivery partnerships with Uber Technologies’ Uber Eats and Instacart.

From Barron's • May 28, 2026

Lilly has been “laser focused on reducing friction,” Breen said, as evidenced by success of LillyDirect and same-day delivery over Amazon for Foundayo.

From Barron's • Apr. 15, 2026

People who subscribe to Amazon Prime in certain metro areas already get free same-day delivery.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026

The online retail giant is also investing $4 billion to build a network of same-day delivery hubs in rural America.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023