posthaste

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See also: post-haste and post haste

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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posthaste (not comparable)

  1. Quickly, as fast as someone travelling post; with great speed.
    It is imperative that you finish your task posthaste.
    • 1946, Paramahansa Yogananda, “Chapter 17”, in Autobiography of a Yogi:
      "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

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Noun

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posthaste (uncountable)

  1. Alternative spelling of post-haste
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals), page 1, lines 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."

Anagrams

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