E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Post
means placed. (Latin, positus.)
1
Post. A piece of timber placed in the ground.
2
A military post. A station where a man is placed, with instructions not to quit it without orders.
3
An official post is where a man is placed in office.
4
To post accounts is to place them under certain heads in methodical order. (Trench.)
5
Post haste. Travelling by relays of horses, or where horses are placed on the road to expedite the journey.
6
Post office. An office where letters are placed.
7
Post paper. So called from its watermark, a post-horn, or a post-boy blowing his horn.
8
“The old original post [paper] with the stamp in the corner representing a post-boy riding for life, and twanging his horn.”—Mrs. Gaskell: Cranford, chap. v.
Stiff as a post. That is, stiff [in the ground] like a gate-post.
9
To run your head against a post. To go to work heedlessly and stupidly, or as if you had no eyes.
