snail mail

American  

noun

Facetious.

1. physical delivery of mail, as contrasted with email.

2. the letters, packages, etc., delivered this way.

---

snail mail British  

noun

1. the conventional postal system, as opposed to electronic mail

---

verb

1. (tr) to send by the conventional postal system, rather than by electronic mail

snail mail Cultural  

1. A term used to denote mail sent via the traditional postal service, usually to contrast that process to e-mail.

---

snail mail Idioms  

1. Ordinary postal service, as opposed to electronic communications. For example, He hasn't taken to his computer so he's still using snail mail. This slangy idiom, alluding to the alleged slowness of the snail, caught on at least partly for its rhyme. [1980s]

---

Etymology

Origin of snail mail

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

snail mail

But last March, seven typed pages, apparently containing the former Zappos chief executive’s final wishes, surfaced via snail mail to the Las Vegas courthouse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

Diana Ruzova: I know you started off with snail mail and word of mouth to promote the screenings.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026

Last year also happened to be the year I became a full-on snail mail obsessive.

From Salon ● Jan. 27, 2026

There will be a paper trail, either email or snail mail.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 20, 2025

And an impatient manager was unlikely to be willing to wait a week for the new password to arrive courtesy of snail mail.

From Underground by Dreyfus, Suelette