Definition

1. Noun:
   • A postal service for receiving mail: A service provided by a post office where mail is held for collection by the addressee, typically used when the recipient does not have a fixed or known address.

Usage

• This term is used primarily in American English. It describes a specific counter or section within a post office.
• The phrase is used with prepositions like or (e.g., "send it to general delivery," "pick it up at general delivery").
• It functions as an uncountable noun in this context.

Examples

• Noun:
  • While traveling across the country, he had his letters sent to general delivery at the main post office in each city.
  • Please address the package to me care of General Delivery, Springfield Post Office.
  • I need to check general delivery to see if my passport has arrived.

Advanced Usage

• "To hold mail for general delivery": A phrase used by postal services to indicate they will keep mail for customer pickup.
  • The post office will hold packages for general delivery for up to 30 days.
• "General delivery mail": Mail that is intended to be picked up at the post office.
  • The clerk sorted the general delivery mail into the holding bins.

Variants and Related Words

• Hold for pickup: A similar, more modern postal service where a parcel is held at a post office or carrier location for recipient collection.
• Poste restante: The term for an equivalent service used in many other English-speaking countries outside the United States and Canada.

Synonyms

• Poste restante (International term)
• Will call (A similar concept for package pickup from commercial carriers or retail stores)

Related Phrases

• Care of General Delivery (c/o General Delivery): The standard format for addressing mail to be held under this service.
  • The letter was addressed to "Jane Doe, c/o General Delivery, Anytown, USA."

Noun

1. the part of a post office that handles mail for persons who call for it