A letter box, letterbox, letter plate, letter hole, deed, mail slot, or mailbox is a receptacle for receiving incoming mail at a private residence or business. For the opposite purpose of collating outgoing mail, a post box is generally used instead.
Letterboxes or mailboxes consist of four primary designs:
- A slot in a wall or door through which mail is delivered (through-door delivery)
- A box attached directly to the house (door-to-door delivery)
- A box mounted at or near the street (curbside delivery)
- A centralised mail delivery station consisting of individual mailboxes for an entire building
- A centralised mail delivery station consisting of individual mailboxes for multiple recipients at multiple addresses in a particular neighborhood or community
Read more about Letter Box: Styles and Usage
Famous quotes containing the words letter and/or box:
“Most personal correspondence of today consists of letters the first half of which are given over to an indexed statement of why the writer hasn’t written before, followed by one paragraph of small talk, with the remainder devoted to reasons why it is imperative that the letter be brought to a close.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)
“The distant box is open. A sound of grain
Poured over the floor in some eagerness we
Rise with the night let out of the box of wind.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)