airmail

noun air·mail \ ˈer-ˌmāl \

Updated on: 18 Mar 2018

Definition of airmail

: the system of transporting mail by aircraft; also : the mail thus transported

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airmail

transitive verb

See airmail defined for English-language learners

See airmail defined for kids

Examples of airmail in a Sentence

The package was sent by airmail.

Recent Examples of airmail from the Web

Here are our lessons learned from years of transatlantic trips, Skype sessions, and airmail sent, just in time for Valentine's Day.

— laura dannen redman, Condé Nast Traveler, "In Defense of the Long-Distance Relationship," 14 Feb. 2018
In 1934, a former member of the administration of President Herbert Hoover, William MacCracken, was tried by the Senate and sentenced to imprisonment for impeding an investigation into airmail contracts.

— philip bump, Washington Post, "Congress's ability to twist arms is limited — unless it wants to arrest Bannon itself," 18 Jan. 2018
Early that morning, a young airmail pilot, Charles Lindbergh, took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island and flew his single-seat, single-engine Spirit of St. Louis in a nonstop arc to Paris.

— susan scott parrish, Smithsonian, "The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 Laid Bare the Divide Between the North and the South," 11 Apr. 2017
His radio engineer, Eugene Donovan, patented the beacon transmitter in 1928, and the following year the USPS quit making those big concrete arrows to point airmail pilots on their way.

— ed wallace, star-telegram, "Aviation and Detroit: One begat the other | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 14 Oct. 2017
The team beat Ghana, allowed a stoppage-time equalizer to Portugal, lost to the eventual champion Germany and was a Wondo airmail away from reaching the quarterfinal.

— andrew joseph, USA TODAY, "Klinsmann's 2018 WC semifinal prediction backfires," 12 Oct. 2017
Still, terrorists managed to acquire plastic explosives and the components needed to set it off—all shipped by airmail from Turkey.

— ahmet s. yayla, WSJ, "ISIS Airmail: The Bomb Shipped From Turkey to Australia," 9 Aug. 2017
Anyone who plays pickup ball knows the guy whose full-court, behind-the-back heave airmails you at least once per game.

— matt calkins, The Seattle Times, "Career assists record befits Sue Bird," 26 Aug. 2017
But that didn’t stop an ambitious thief from crating himself up and shipping himself airmail.

— steve hendrix, Washington Post, "Mail that baby: A brief history of kids sent through the U.S. Postal Service," 24 May 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'airmail.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of airmail

1911

See Words from the same year

in the meaning defined above

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AIRMAIL Defined for English Language Learners

airmail

noun

Definition of airmail for English Language Learners

: the system used for sending mail by aircraft; also : mail sent by using this system

AIRMAIL Defined for Kids

airmail

noun air·mail \ ˈer-ˈmāl \

Definition of airmail for Students

1 : the system of carrying mail by airplanes

2 : mail carried by airplanes

airmail

verb

Definition of airmail for Students

airmailed; airmailing

: to send by airmail

Learn More about airmail

See words that rhyme with airmail Spanish Central: Translation of airmail Nglish: Translation of airmail for Spanish speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about airmail

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airmail

Definition of airmail

airmail

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AIRMAIL Defined for English Language Learners

airmail

Definition of airmail for English Language Learners

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airmail

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airmail

Definition of airmail for Students

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airmail

Definition of airmail

airmail

Examples of airmail in a Sentence

Recent Examples of airmail from the Web

First Known Use of airmail

AIRMAIL Defined for English Language Learners

airmail

Definition of airmail for English Language Learners

AIRMAIL Defined for Kids

airmail

Definition of airmail for Students

airmail

Definition of airmail for Students

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