read the mail

verb

To listen to CB radio conversations without taking part.

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Meanings

verbread the mail (third-person singular simple present reads the mail, present participle reading the mail, simple past and past participle read the mail)

present singular third person reads the mail · participle present reading the mail

  1. CB radio slangTo listen to CB radio conversations without taking part.

    Participating in the different emergency nets is very important to some, while others prefer to monitor or "read the mail."

    1994, Amateur Radio, volume 50, numbers 7-12, page 89
    2 more examples

    You can “read the mail" with the U.S., you may violate local laws to transmit on amateur frequencies without a license […]

    1983, Cruising World, volume 9, number 7, page 41

    And that's when the fun begins. You can read the mail, download the bulletins, keep up-to-date on OSCAR-13 operations, decode the numerical data and learn about the space environment, […]

    1989, 73 Amateur Radio, numbers 340-351, page 20
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see read, mail.
Cite this entry
APA

read the mail. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/read%20the%20mail

MLA

“read the mail.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/read%20the%20mail. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “read the mail,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/read%20the%20mail.

Source: read the mail on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.