rural free delivery
- noun
- /ˈrʊrəl fri dɪˈlɪvəri/
- Formal
:
servicio de entrega rural gratuita
- The introduction of rural free delivery was a significant improvement for people in isolated communities.
Examples
-
Thanks to rural free delivery, residents can now get important letters and packages delivered right to their homes.
-
However, the arrival of the railroad and then the establishment of rural free delivery in 1896 served to expand further consumer choices.
Academic text (2001) -
In response, the Department of Agriculture developed a program designed to make recreation opportunities accessible in rural areas, just as earlier programs had provided for rural free delivery of mail and supported the establishment of rural electric associations.
Academic text (2008) -
Rural free delivery allows families living on farms to receive their mail without traveling to the nearest post office.
Synonyms
1
7.6
A mail service that delivers letters and packages to people in the countryside
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is transparently built from 'rural' (countryside), 'free' (without charge) and 'delivery' (sending mail): it literally denotes free delivery service for rural residents. This is a straightforward descriptive compound that a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would be able to understand without special cultural knowledge.
Etymology
Rural free delivery comes from a service set up long ago to bring mail for no cost to people who lived in the countryside. Picture a postman on a horse or wagon carrying letters out to farmhouses, and that simple scene explains the parts rural, free, delivery. So, the phrase means 'a government service providing free delivery of mail to residents in rural areas'.