surface mail

noun

Mail which is transported by motor vehicle, by railway, or by seacraft, but not by aircraft.

Opposite
air mail
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Meanings

nounsurface mail (uncountable)
  1. retronymuncountableMail which is transported by motor vehicle, by railway, or by seacraft, but not by aircraft.

    All Christmas cards for overseas delivery must be sealed and may travel either by surface mail at an eight-cent rate or by air mail at 12 cents.

    1971 October 8, “‘Mail early’ message sent”, in The Montreal Gazette, retrieved 29 Mar 2013, page 12
    1 more example

    [M]embers of the joint committee on communications also decided to improve postal service between Israel and Egypt to include surface mail in addition to air mail deliveries.

    1981 September 16, “Around the World: Israeli-Egyptian Talks On Links Near an End”, in New York Times, retrieved 22 Mar 2013

Synonyms & antonyms

nounmail that is sent by land or sea

Opposite
air mail
Broader
mail

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 平郵 /平邮
  • 平郵 /平邮 (píngyóu)mail transported by motor vehicle
Finnish maaposti
  • maapostimail transported by motor vehicle
Swedish ytpost
  • ytpostmail transported by motor vehicle
Cite this entry
APA

surface mail. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surface%20mail

MLA

“surface mail.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surface%20mail. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “surface mail,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/surface%20mail.

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