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View synonyms for snail mail

snail mail

noun

, Facetious.
  1. physical delivery of mail, as contrasted with email.
  2. the letters, packages, etc., delivered this way.


snail mail

noun

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


verb

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

snail mail

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


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Word History and Origins

Origin of snail mail1

First recorded in 1980–85
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Word History and Origins

Origin of snail mail1

C20: so named because of the relative slowness of the conventional postal system
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Idioms and Phrases

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]
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Example Sentences

When school districts reach out to families, they often do so through text messages, robocalls, emails, Facebook posts and snail mail.

Email promised to improve on the failings of phones, fax machines, and snail mail when it rose to prominence in the 1990s.

From Quartz

This weekend, I sent out a snail mail newsletter about voting, wrote to my council member about a local issue, and sent a few letters to Kenosha.

Whether you receive your stimulus payment via direct deposit or as a paper check through snail mail, the IRS will also send you a letter in the mail 15 days later letting you know that the payment was sent.

From Time

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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.

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