mail carrier
7
2.0
- noun
- /meɪl ˈkɛrɪər/
- US
:
cartero
- Every day, the mail carrier walks through the neighborhood, bringing letters to each house.
- a rural mail carrier
- a substitute mail carrier
- mail carrier delivers
Examples
-
But I persisted in attending the Mennonite church regularly, and finally one member, our rural mail carrier, spoke to me.
Academic text (1992) -
Every day now, the mail carrier brings an offer for discounts on Medicare Supplemental insurance.
Blog text (10) -
At some point, however, the mail carrier makes a mistake, and the story goes on to say:
Blog text (2) -
Case in point: the sheer number of mail carriers who are attacked by dogs every day.
Blog text (6) -
A U.S. Mail carrier's truck pulls into the parking lot of a strip mall.
Fiction book (2001) -
In the five boroughs, mail carriers returned from their routes by noon.
Blog text (33) -
Walking down the street, they might see construction workers, a mail carrier, a tree trimmer, or a trash collector at work.
Academic text (1991) -
Perhaps he had lost faith in the U.S. Postal Service and no longer trusted the mail carriers not to snoop inside the letters they delivered.
Fiction book (2000) -
The mail carrier shrugs rain off his shoulders and lands a packet of 30 envelopes next to the announcements.
Fiction book (1991) -
More distant cousins—mail carriers, department store clerks, receptionists—honest people with children, pumping their own gas and paying large mortgages.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
258
2.4
A person who delivers letters or small packages to other people
238
2.9
A person or company that delivers letters and packages
96
1.0
A person who delivers letters and packages to people's homes and businesses
94
3.8
A person who carries and delivers messages or packages
38
1.0
A person who delivers letters and parcels to homes and businesses
5
1.4
A person who brings packages or food to people's homes
4
2.3
A person who delivers mail and packages to homes and shops
1
2.7
A person who brings packages to homes or businesses
1
2.0
A woman who delivers letters and packages to homes and businesses
1
8.4
A person who delivers letters and parcels to homes and shops
A woman who delivers letters and packages to homes and shops
A woman who brings packages to people's homes or shops
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'mail carrier' is directly compositional: a carrier is someone who carries or transports, and 'mail' specifies what is carried, so a learner who knows both words can infer 'a person who delivers mail'. This noun+noun compounding is a common, cross-linguistic pattern and follows standard English composition, making it immediately transparent to B1 learners.
Etymology
Mail carrier comes from a simple picture: a carrier who takes mail, letters and packages, and walks or rides to bring them to people's homes. So it means 'a person whose job is to deliver letters and parcels'.