A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

possess oneself of something • possess something
possess oneself of something —
1
. take possession of smth.: Div-
ing below, he possessed himself of the money he had stowed
away in his bundle when he came aboard. 2. appropriate smth.
to one’s use, especially unlawfully or unfairly; By the aid of
his brother who was bishop of Winchester, he possessed him-
self of the royal treasure.
possess something —have or own something: The young man
spent his boyhood at Capri, where his father possessed a house
near the residence of the emperor.
possessed by something • possessed of something
possessed by something —having one’s mind dominated by
some strong emotion: We drop anchor and, possessed by a
powerful craving for a cold beer, row to the fish-stained docks.
possessed of something —
1
. being the owner of smth.: To
dream that you are possessed of riches, denotes that you will
rise to high places by your constant exertion and attention to
your affairs. 2. being in possession of smth. such as a quality:
The following document is written under the assumption that
the reader is possessed of a sense of humor.
post boat • post ship
post boat—a ship conveying mail or travelers, especially on
a regular route: We have the choice of the post boat tomorrow,
which takes a limited number of passengers, or the bigger boat
on Saturday.
post ship —(UK hist.) a Royal Navy ship of not less than
twenty guns: Every ship of twenty guns or more was a post-
ship, and a man was ordinarily said to be posted, that is,
appointed to command a ship.
post box • post-office box
post box —(UK) a box in a public place in which letters are
deposited for dispatch: There is no way to retrieve a letter
once it has been dropped into a post box.
post-office box —a private box or pigeon hole in a post office
where letters are kept until called for: The following evening
Dillon found in his post-office box a letter of one line.
See also: letter box / mailbox.