mailbag

[ meyl-bag ]

/ ˈmeɪlˌbæg /

a large bag used by mail carriers for carrying mail, usually equipped with a shoulder strap.

a large bag or pouch used in transporting mail in bulk from general post offices to branch offices, from city to city, etc.

Origin of mailbag

First recorded in 1805–15; mail¹ + bag

Among other outrages, a mailbag was stolen from the York postboy, on the evening of February 22 in that year.

The Great North Road: London to York |Charles G. Harper
We scrambled out as best we could, and lost no time in salving the mailbag and our instruments.

Flying the Atlantic in Sixteen Hours |Arthur Whitten Brown
At every solitary house along the road we stopped to leave a mailbag.

The Continental Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 2, August, 1863 |Various
The village postmaster stood staring at an official envelope that had just been shaken out of a mailbag upon the sorting-table.

The Devil's Garden |W. B. Maxwell

All of them therefore jumped up to greet the bearer of the mailbag, being greatly interested in news from the home folks.

Motor Boat Boys Down the Danube |Louis Arundel

mailbag

/ (ˈmeɪlˌbæɡ) /

a large bag used for transporting or delivering mail