ˈpost-boy
[f. post n.2 + boy n.1]
1. A boy or man who rides post; a letter-carrier.
| 1588 Cal. Border Papers I. 320 Sum Skotes..mett with the post boay of Morpett bychanse..and tooke away his horse and pakkett. 1624 Rutland MSS. (1905) IV. 527 Paid to a post boy for a letter from my Lord, vjd. 1672 R. Wild Declar. Lib. Consc. 4, I suddenly heard the Post-boy blow his Horn near my Window. 1723 Lond. Gaz. No. 6137/3 The Post-Boy who was bringing the Gloucester and Bristol Mails to London. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 49 ¶13 A road through which..the post-boy every day and night goes and returns. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet II. vi. 122 We heard the summons of the postboy's horn, and Cicely presently ran in with a letter in her hand. |
2. The postilion of a stage-coach, post-chaise, or hired carriage; = postilion 3.
| 1707 Chamberlayne Pres. St. Eng. iii. (ed. 22) 443 If any Gentleman desire to ride Post..Post-Horses are always in readiness..only 3d. is demanded for every English Mile; and, for every Stage, to the Post-Boy 4d. for conducting. 1733 Fielding Tom Thumb ii. v, Tho' they should fly as swift as the gods, when they Ride on behind that post⁓boy, Opportunity. 1777 Sheridan Trip Scarb. i. i, Pay the postboy, and take the portmanteau. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 230 Away went Gilpin, and away Went postboy at his heels, The postboy's horse right glad to miss The lumbering of the wheels. 1853 Lytton My Novel xii. xxxiii, The post-boys cracked their whips, and the wheels rolled away. |
3. Austral. = Jacky Winter s.v. Jacky 3.
| 1911 J. A. Leach Austral. Bird Bk. 121 Australian Brown Flycatcher, Jacky Winter, Post-boy, Post-sitter. 1931 N. W. Cayley What Bird is That? 64 Brown Flycatcher... Also called Peter-Peter, Post-boy, Post-sitter. 1969 [see Jacky Winter s.v. Jacky 3]. |