postdate

verb

post·​date ˌpōs(t)-ˈdāt How to pronounce postdate (audio)
ˈpōs(t)-ˌdāt
postdated; postdating; postdates

transitive verb

1
a
: to date with a date later than that of execution
postdate a check
b
: to assign (an event) to a date subsequent to that of actual occurrence
2
: to follow in time

Examples of postdate in a Sentence

We sent the company a postdated check for next month's payment. the inscription at the base actually postdates the statue itself by a number of years
Recent Examples on the Web Imagine an English literature course that included no books written after 1600; a philosophy syllabus designed on the assumption that all philosophers after David Hume were second-rate; an archaeology professor who refused to teach anything postdating the Lower Paleolithic. Peter Thonemann, WSJ, 5 Jan. 2024 Legislative leaders endorsed the reform and plan to vote next month to postdate the new rate to Jan. 1. The Editorial Board, WSJ, 6 Dec. 2023 Though different in form, these two venerable objects share visual features, not only with each other but with images that long preceded and postdated them. Holland Cotter, New York Times, 16 Nov. 2023 Many of the choices predate his career, and very few of the tracks that postdate the ’60s seem directly influenced by his work. Wesley Stace, WSJ, 4 Nov. 2022 Both of them postdate a report in the New York Times in April 2020 that Chris Cuomo had provided advice to Andrew Cuomo’s staff. Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2022 Coralie Mills of Dendrochronicle found that the samples of timbers retrieved from the riverbed were native oak, a wood rarely found at Scottish sites that postdate 1450. Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Oct. 2020 Four of the ten Indian Ocean Dipoles that have occurred since 1240 postdate 1960. Rafil Kroll-Zaidi, Harper's Magazine, 23 June 2020 Mel Dacus left Casa in 1975, so most of Brent Dacus’ work and all of Reynold’s work at the theater postdate their father and grandfather there. Punch Shaw, star-telegram, 10 May 2018

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'postdate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1624, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of postdate was in 1624

Dictionary Entries Near postdate

Cite this Entry

“Postdate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/postdate. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

postdate

verb
post·​date (ˈ)pōs(t)-ˈdāt How to pronounce postdate (audio)
1
: to assign a date to that is later than the actual or current date
postdate a check
2
: to follow in time
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