POP3

ALSO CALLED: POP, Post Office Protocol
DEFINITION: POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) is the most recent version of a standard protocol for receiving e-mail. POP3 is a client/server protocol in which e-mail is received and held for you by your Internet server. Periodically, you (or your client e-mail receiver) check your mail-box on the server and download any mail, probably using POP3. This standard protocol is built into most popular e-mail products,  … 
Definition continues below.

POP3 DEFINITION (continued): …  such as Eudora and Outlook Express. It's also built into the Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers.POP3 is designed to delete mail on the server as soon as the user has downloaded it. However, some implementations allow users or an administrator to specify that mail be saved for some period of time. POP can be thought of as a "store-and-forward" service. An alternative protocol is Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP). IMAP provides the user more capabilities for retaining e-mail on the server and for organizing it in folders on the server. IMAP can be thought of as a remote … 
POP3 definition sponsored by SearchExchange.com, powered by WhatIs.com an online computer dictionary