ˈfranking machine
[f. franking vbl. n. + machine n.]
An officially authorized machine, introduced by the British Post Office in 1922, used by large concerns for ‘stamping’ letters, etc., with a sign (in lieu of an affixed postage stamp); it simultaneously records the cost of postage (this being periodically checked and collected by the Post Office). Also franking stamp.
| 1927 Times 22 Feb. 10/4 Remembering to have read of a franking machine called a postage meter being recently issued to the public, I wrote to the P.M.G. 1929 Encycl. Brit. XVIII. 311/1 Another method of avoiding the use of postage stamps is the employment of postal franking machines, which are now licensed by the post office. These machines impress the correspondence with a red franking stamp which is accepted as the equivalent of a postage stamp. 1961 Lebende Sprachen VI. 70/1 Postage meter machine (B[ritish] E[nglish]: franking machine). |