posthaste

See also: post-haste and post haste

English

WOTD – 22 June 2006

Alternative forms

post-haste, post haste

Etymology

From the former instruction on letters ‘haste, post, haste’, later reinterpreted as a compound of post +‎ haste.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌpəʊstˈheɪst/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˌpoʊstˈheɪst/
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (AU) (file)

Adverb

posthaste (not comparable)

quickly, as fast as someone travelling post; with great speed
It is imperative that you finish your task posthaste.
- 1946 — Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, Ch. 17
  "Sasi cannot last through the night." These words from his physician, and the spectacle of my friend, now reduced almost to a skeleton, sent me posthaste to Serampore.

Synonyms

(quickly): ASAP, quickly
See also Thesaurus:quickly

Noun

posthaste (uncountable)

Alternative spelling of post-haste
- 1602 : Hamlet by William Shakespeare, act 1 scene 1 l 103-106
  "And this, I take it,
  
  Is the main motive of our preparations
  
  The source of this our watch, and the chief head
  
  Of this post-haste and rummage in the land."

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.