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mail clerk

mail clerk

1 2.8
A person who sorts and handles mail in an office or post office
  • noun
  • /meɪl klɜrk/
  • US
translation icon : empleado de correos
  • After completing training, she started her new position as a mail clerk at the local post office.

Examples

  • Do you ever get used to the danger?" They noticed the mail clerk watching.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • a mail clerk.

  • I tracked it to a part-time mail clerk hired on from William Carey College.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Near the stove, the railway mail clerk sat on a stool with his elbows on the counter.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • As a mail clerk, he is responsible for sorting and delivering letters and packages each day.

  • The mail clerk quickly organized the incoming mail to ensure it was distributed on time.

Synonyms

sorter
vsmail clerk
3 2.1

A person who arranges items like mail or parcels by destination

has a wider role including processing and sending items beyond simple arranging
postal clerk
vsmail clerk
1 2.6

A person who works at a post office and helps people with mail

focuses more on sorting, processing, and distributing within an office rather than customer help

How Senior

postmaster
18 4.2
letter carrier
  • US
4 2.3
mail clerk
  • US
1 2.8

Surface Forms

mail clerk singular
mail clerks plural

Morphology

mail + clerk

The meaning 'a person who sorts, processes, and distributes mail' is directly and transparently composed from 'mail' (letters/parcels) and 'clerk' (an employee who performs administrative tasks). The noun-noun construction (X clerk = an employee who handles X) is a regular, predictable pattern found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Mail clerk comes from joining mail (letters and packages) and clerk (an office worker who keeps records). It named the person who sorts and gives out mail, so today it means 'someone whose job is to sort and distribute mail'.