box
box — noun
1. a hard-sided thing, usually square or rectangular, used to hold or carry objects
a hard-sided thing, usually square or rectangular, used to hold or carry objects and often closed with a lid.
Noa kept old photos in a blue box under her bed.
pattern: in a box
A damp delivery box sat outside Priya's apartment door until noon.
collocation: delivery box
The birthday cake sat in a pink box by the counter.
Hiro found a metal box full of screws in the garage.
- cardboard box
- metal box
- open the box
- pack a box
Grammar Patterns
in a box
open a box
a box of [things]
Usage Note
This is the basic physical-object sense. Distinguish from sense 2, where box means the amount inside one box rather than the container itself.
Common Mistakes
2. the amount inside one box, or one filled box taken as a unit for selling, moving
the amount inside one box, or one filled box taken as a unit for selling, moving, or counting.
We ordered two boxes of oranges from the farm.
pattern: box of [goods]
The clinic used one box of masks every day.
Half a box of pasta was enough for dinner.
pattern: half a box of
One box of tiles covered the bathroom floor.
- a box of oranges
- one box of masks
- half a box
- two boxes of tiles
Grammar Patterns
a box of oranges
half a box of pasta
two boxes of [goods]
Usage Note
Common in shopping, cooking, and moving. Here the focus is quantity, not the shape or material of the container.
Common Mistakes
3. a square or rectangular area marked by lines on paper, a screen, a road, or a sp
a square or rectangular area marked by lines on paper, a screen, a road, or a sports field for a special job.
Tick the small box next to your email address.
pattern: tick the box
A red box appeared around the spelling mistake.
box on a screen
After the trip, the referee pointed to the box for a penalty kick.
sports marked area
At rush hour, drivers must not stop inside the yellow box.
traffic use: yellow box
- tick a box
- text box
- yellow box
- penalty box area
Grammar Patterns
tick the box
a box on the screen
inside the yellow box
Usage Note
This sense covers form boxes, screen boxes, traffic boxes, and lined areas in sport. Distinguish from senses 5 and 6, which are enclosed places with walls or seats.
Common Mistakes
4. a hard cup a male player wears over the sex organs for safety in sports.
a hard cup a male player wears over the sex organs for safety in sports.
Ravi adjusted his box before the baseball game started.
pattern: wear a box
The young batter forgot his box and borrowed one.
Eli wore a hard box under his shorts at hockey practice.
sports safety gear
Parents bought Ben a larger box for next season.
- wear a box
- forget your box
- protective box
- larger box
- athletic cup
a clearer modern term, especially in North American sports.
- protector
a broader word that can refer to different kinds of protective gear.
Grammar Patterns
wear a box
forget your box
a larger box
Usage Note
Used mainly in sports contexts such as baseball, cricket, or hockey. In American English, athletic cup is a more explicit name.
5. a very small enclosed place with walls, used for one person or one job.
a very small enclosed place with walls, used for one person or one job.
The guard sat in a glass box by the gate.
collocation: glass box
A phone box stood beside the rainy bus stop.
compound: phone box
The ticket seller worked in a narrow box beside the station gate.
booth use: ticket box
At the fair, a fortune-teller waited in a painted box.
- glass box
- phone box
- guard box
- painted box
Grammar Patterns
a glass box
sit in a box
a phone box
Usage Note
Often appears with another noun that explains the function, such as phone box or guard box. Distinguish from sense 1, which is a movable container for objects.
6. a small seating section set apart from the main audience in a theater, stadium,
a small seating section set apart from the main audience in a theater, stadium, or courtroom.
Our family watched the opera from a side box.
collocation: side box
The judge asked the witness to face the jury box.
court use: jury box
The law firm rented a box for the baseball final.
pattern: rent a box
Two guests waved from the royal box above the stage.
- side box
- jury box
- royal box
- rent a box
Grammar Patterns
a side box
rent a box
the jury box
Usage Note
In entertainment, this often means a private or special viewing area. In court, jury box is a fixed term for the seats used by jurors.
7. a television set, or television as something people sit and watch at home.
a television set, or television as something people sit and watch at home.
Grandpa falls asleep in front of the box every night.
pattern: in front of the box
At bedtime, Dad told the twins to turn off the box.
pattern: turn off the box
After dinner, we gathered around the box for the news.
watching television
Mara sold the old box when she bought a smart TV.
- the box
- turn off the box
- watch the box
- in front of the box
- TV
the most common short form in everyday speech.
- television set
more explicit and less informal.
Grammar Patterns
watch the box
turn off the box
in front of the box
Usage Note
Usually informal and often heard in older speech. The form the box is especially common when talking about watching television at home.
8. a numbered place at a post office, or a numbered reply address, used to receive
a numbered place at a post office, or a numbered reply address, used to receive letters.
Please send the form to Box 218 in central Tainan.
pattern: Box + number
Job applications should go to the box number printed in Sunday's ad.
advertisement reply address
The writer checked her post office box before lunch.
collocation: post office box
The band used a box number while touring across Taiwan.
- Box 218
- post office box
- box number
- reply to the box
- PO box
the standard modern abbreviation for a post office box.
- mailbox
broader and often means the box at a home rather than a numbered postal address.
- reply address
focuses on where answers should be sent, not on the physical box.
Grammar Patterns
Box 218
post office box
a box number
Usage Note
In newspaper ads and formal notices, box can mean only the reply number. In post office box, it can refer to the numbered mail space itself.
a bag/box of tricks
idiomA collection of methods or tools that someone can use to achieve something.
The chef's bag of tricks includes a special spice blend.
Does your box of tricks contain any new marketing ideas?
To hit someone on the side of the head with your hand as a punishment.
The angry father gave his son a box on the ears.
In the past, teachers would give a box on the ears for misbehavior.
think out of the box
idiomTo think in a creative and original way, not limited by usual ideas.
To solve this problem, we need to think out of the box.
Maya always thinks out of the box when designing new products.
To meet all the requirements or preferences that someone has.
This candidate ticks all the boxes for the job.
Does the new apartment tick all your boxes?
box — verb
1. to fight under boxing rules, either generally or against a named opponent.
to fight under boxing rules, either generally or against a named opponent.
Nadia boxed for her school team last winter.
pattern: box for [team]
On Saturday, Kenji will box against the national champion.
pattern: box against [opponent]
Two brothers boxed in the gym after class.
At the charity match, Bea boxed her taller cousin for three rounds.
transitive opponent use
- box professionally
- box against a champion
- box for the team
- box in the gym
Grammar Patterns
box for [team]
box against [opponent]
box [someone]
Usage Note
The verb can stand alone for doing the sport, or it can name the opponent directly or after against. Distinguish from sense 3, which means hitting with the hand outside the sport.
2. to put something into a box, or to surround something tightly as if it were insi
to put something into a box, or to surround something tightly as if it were inside one.
Mei boxed the books before the movers arrived.
pattern: box + object
Workers boxed the cups with paper for safety.
box [things] with [material]
By dawn, deep snow boxed the cabin on three sides.
figurative enclosing use
Low bricks boxed the herb bed beside the kitchen wall.
- box the books
- box the cups
- box the cabin
- boxed by snow
- unpack
means taking things out after they have been boxed or packed.
Grammar Patterns
box the books
box [things] with paper
box [place] on three sides
Usage Note
Usually takes the thing being packed as its direct object. In the extended use, the object is the place or thing surrounded on several sides.
Common Mistakes
3. to strike someone or something sharply with the hand, especially on the side of
to strike someone or something sharply with the hand, especially on the side of the head or ear.
The angry woman boxed the thief's ears in the market.
pattern: box someone's ears
A branch boxed Felix on the ear as he ran.
pattern: box [someone] on the ear
In the play, the aunt pretended to box her nephew's ears.
Turning too fast, Omar boxed the hanging lamp by the door.
hit with the hand
- box someone's ears
- box him on the ear
- box the lamp
- boxed by a branch
Grammar Patterns
box someone's ears
box [someone] on the ear
box [something] with the hand
Usage Note
Much rarer than punch in modern English. It often appears in the fixed phrase box someone's ears, which suggests an open-handed blow rather than a boxing punch.
Common Mistakes
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
For the everyday object in noun sense 1, box is the most general word when something has firm sides and a fairly regular shape. Container is broader: a bottle, jar, or tub can all be containers, even if they are not box-shaped. Case often suggests protection or a special fit, as in a guitar case or glasses case. Carton usually points to card or paperboard packaging, especially for food or goods in shops. Crate suggests a larger, rougher container, often wooden, for transport or storage. So you pack books in a box, carry a violin in a case, buy juice in a carton, and ship fruit in a crate.
Etymology
Modern English box brings together two historical lines. The main noun for a container goes back through Old English to Latin buxis and Greek pyxis, words connected with a small box and with boxwood, a wood often used to make such containers. From the idea of something enclosed by sides, English later extended box to marked spaces, booths, and seating areas. The verb meaning to strike developed separately in English from an older use referring to a blow, and the sporting sense of fighting with the fists grew from that striking sense.