Reference  |  Webster's Dictionary  |  P  |  Post-abdomen to Postmeridian

P — Post-abdomen to Postmeridian (Part 1 of 6)

Post-abdomen
(Post`-ab*do"men) n. [Pref. post- + abdomen.] (Zoöl.) That part of a crustacean behind the cephalothorax; — more commonly called abdomen.

Postable
(Post"a*ble) a. Capable of being carried by, or as by, post. [Obs.] W. Montagu.

Postact
(Post"act`) n. An act done afterward.

Postage
(Post"age) n. The price established by law to be paid for the conveyance of a letter or other mailable matter by a public post.

Postage stamp, a government stamp required to be put upon articles sent by mail in payment of the postage, esp. an adhesive stamp issued and sold for that purpose.

Postal
(Post"al) a. [Cf. F. postal.] Belonging to the post office or mail service; as, postal arrangements; postal authorities.

Postal card, or Post card, a card sold by the government for transmission through the mails, at a lower rate of postage than a sealed letter. The message is written on one side of the card, and the direction on the other. — Postal money order. See Money order, under Money. — Postal note, an order payable to bearer, for a sum of money (in the United States less than five dollars under existing law), issued from one post office and payable at another specified office. — Postal Union, a union for postal purposes entered into by the most important powers, or governments, which have agreed to transport mail matter through their several territories at a stipulated rate.

Postanal
(Post*a"nal) a. [Pref. post- + anal.] (Anat.) Situated behind, or posterior to, the anus.

Postaxial
(Post*ax"i*al) a. [Pref. post- + axial.] (Anat.) Situated behind any transverse axis in the body of an animal; caudal; posterior; especially, behind, or on the caudal or posterior (that is, ulnar or fibular) side of, the axis of a vertebrate limb.

Postboy
(Post"boy`) n.

1. One who rides post horses; a position; a courier.

2. A boy who carries letters from the post.

Post-captain
(Post"-cap`tain) n. A captain of a war vessel whose name appeared, or was "posted," in the seniority list of the British navy, as distinguished from a commander whose name was not so posted. The term was also used in the United States navy; but no such commission as post-captain was ever recognized in either service, and the term has fallen into disuse.

Postcava
(||Post"ca`va) n.; pl. Postcavæ . [NL. See Post-, and Cave, n.] (Anat.) The inferior vena cava. — Post"ca`val a. B. G. Wilder.

Postclavicle
(Post*clav"i*cle) n. [Pref. post- + clavicle.] (Anat.) A bone in the pectoral girdle of many fishes projecting backward from the clavicle. — Post`*cla*vic"u*lar a.

Postcommissure
(Post*com"mis*sure) n. [Pref. post- + commisure.] (Anat.) A transverse commisure in the posterior part of the roof of the third ventricle of the brain; the posterior cerebral commisure. B. G. Wilder.

Postcommunion
(Post`com*mun"ion) n. [Pref. post- + communion.]

1. (Ch. of Eng. & Prot. Epis. Ch.) The concluding portion of the communion service.

2. (R. C. Ch.) A prayer or prayers which the priest says at Mass, after the ablutions.