airmail

noun

air·​mail ˈer-ˌmāl How to pronounce airmail (audio)
: the system of transporting mail by aircraft
also : the mail thus transported
airmail transitive verb

Examples of airmail in a Sentence

The package was sent by airmail.
Recent Examples on the Web Nonnative seeds are also readily distributed via airmail. Tovah Martin, Washington Post, 16 Nov. 2023 Much like the stamps issued to celebrate its launch, the first airmail service—supported by Army planes and pilots, as no commercial airlines were in operation at the time—didn’t go quite as planned. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Nov. 2023 The stamp was printed all the way back in 1918, to commemorate the beginning of regular airmail service, The Washington Post noted. Tori Latham, Robb Report, 15 Nov. 2023 Staff found and destroyed eight of the erroneous sheets and shipped the other stamps to offices in Washington, New York and Philadelphia—the cities selected for the first airmail flights. Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 Nov. 2023 The earliest airmail pilots flew biplanes like the Curtiss JN-4H, and manufacturers soon made special models for airmail. Caroline Delbert, Popular Mechanics, 9 Sep. 2020 Then send it by airmail to your brother in Medford. Dan Barry, BostonGlobe.com, 17 June 2023 Receipts at the Schlesinger Library at Harvard University show that Handler purchased 11 Lilli dolls in 1956 and later ordered another dozen via airmail. Maham Javaid, Washington Post, 25 May 2023 Yet the very notion of airmail seemed cursed. Michael O’Donnell, WSJ, 18 Nov. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'airmail.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1911, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of airmail was in 1911

Dictionary Entries Near airmail

Cite this Entry

“Airmail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/airmail. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

airmail

noun
air·​mail ˈa(ə)r-ˈmāl How to pronounce airmail (audio)
ˈe(ə)r-,
-ˌmāl
1
: the system of transporting mail by aircraft
2
: mail transported by air
airmail verb

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