letterbox
letterbox Lexical Profile
letterbox Game Scores & Validity
• noun
British A rectangular slot in a front door or wall, or an external box attached to a property, through which incoming mail is delivered.
"The postman pushed the morning newspaper and several envelopes through the brass letterbox."
British A public receptacle placed in the street by the postal service for the collection of outgoing mail.
"She walked to the red letterbox at the end of the street to post her birthday cards."
A video display format in which widescreen film is transferred to a narrower aspect ratio while preserving the original width, resulting in black horizontal bars above and below the image.
"The classic cinema release was broadcast in letterbox so viewers could see the entire width of the original frame."
• verb
To format or display a widescreen motion picture or video on a narrower screen by adding black horizontal bars at the top and bottom to preserve the original aspect ratio.
"The editor chose to letterbox the footage rather than crop the edges of the panoramic landscape shots."
British To distribute leaflets, flyers, or mail directly into residential letterboxes across a neighborhood.
"Campaign volunteers spent the Saturday afternoon letterboxing every street in the constituency."
Word Nuance & Usage
In British and Commonwealth English, 'letterbox' (often written as 'letter box' or 'letter-box') is the standard term for both a private mail slot and a public postbox, whereas American English favors 'mailbox' for mail receptacles and reserves 'letterbox' primarily for the widescreen video format.