read the mail

read the mail (third-person singular simple present reads the mail, present participle reading the mail, simple past and past participle read the mail)

1. (CB radio slang) To listen to CB radio conversations without taking part.
   • 1983, Cruising World, volume 9, number 7, page 41:

     You can “read the mail" with the U.S., you may violate local laws to transmit on amateur frequencies without a license […]

   • 1989, 73 Amateur Radio, numbers 340-351, page 20:

     And that's when the fun begins. You can read the mail, download the bulletins, keep up-to-date on OSCAR-13 operations, decode the numerical data and learn about the space environment, […]

   • 1994, Amateur Radio, volume 50, numbers 7-12, page 89:

     Participating in the different emergency nets is very important to some, while others prefer to monitor or "read the mail."

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see read,‎ mail.

• lurk (computing sense)