letter-box

letter-box — noun

1. a narrow opening, usually covered by a small flap, cut into a front door or the

1.nounB1
Definition

a narrow opening, usually covered by a small flap, cut into a front door or the wall near an entrance, through which letters, bills, and small packages are delivered into a building

Example

Caio pushed the envelope through the letter-box and heard it land softly on the mat inside.

through the letter-box — prepositional phrase showing direction

The brass letter-box on the cottage door gleamed in the morning sun.

brass letter-box — noun + noun compound with material adjective

Common collocations
  • through the letter-box
  • brass letter-box
  • push/post/drop through the letter-box
  • letter-box flap
Synonyms
  • mail slot

    American English term for the same opening in a door

  • drop box

    less common; can also refer to a secure container for documents

Grammar Patterns

letter-box + verb (has, is)

through + the + letter-box

Usage Note

This is the primary British meaning of letter-box. In American English, this same object is called a mail slot, while letter box usually refers to a freestanding mailbox (see sense 2).

Common Mistakes

I put the letter in the letter-box' (when meaning a public street box).
I put the letter through the letter-box' (when using the door slot)
the preposition changes depending on whether the opening is on a door (through) or a container (in).

2. a container for receiving incoming mail or posting outgoing letters — either a s

2.nounB1
Definition

a container for receiving incoming mail or posting outgoing letters — either a small box fixed near the entrance of a home (private letter-box) or a freestanding metal box on a street or in a public place (public letter-box)

Example

Jabari ran to the red public letter-box on the corner before the last collection time of the day.

public letter-box — adjective + noun compound for street mailbox

A small parcel was waiting inside Rohan's private letter-box when he got home from school.

private letter-box — adjective + noun for home mailbox

Common collocations
  • public letter-box
  • private letter-box
  • post a letter in the letter-box
  • red letter-box
  • empty the letter-box
Synonyms
  • postbox

    common British term for a public street box for outgoing mail

  • pillar box

    a tall, freestanding red postbox found in the UK, usually cylindrical

  • mailbox

    standard American English term for any mail container

Grammar Patterns

letter-box + noun (is located at, stands on)

in + the + letter-box

Usage Note

In British English, a private letter-box near a home and a public street box can both be called a letter-box, though a public box is more often called a postbox or pillar box. In American English, both are called mailbox, and letter box is uncommon for this sense.

Common Mistakes

I posted the card in the letter-box on the door.
I posted the card in the postbox on the corner.
in British English, the door slot is used for incoming mail only; outgoing mail goes into a public postbox.

3. a waterproof container hidden outdoors as part of the hobby of letterboxing, con

3.nounC1
Definition

a waterproof container hidden outdoors as part of the hobby of letterboxing, containing a unique rubber stamp and a notebook log, which participants find using clues and then use to stamp their personal logbook as proof of discovery

Example

Ziad found the letter-box tucked under a mossy rock and carefully stamped his logbook with the rubber stamp inside.

find the letter-box — typical verb pattern for the hobby

Each letter-box contains a notebook where hikers write their names and the date they discovered it.

contains a notebook — common internal collocation

Common collocations
  • find a letter-box
  • hide a letter-box
  • letter-box stamp
  • letter-box logbook
  • letterboxing clues
Synonyms
  • geocache

    similar concept in the modern geocaching hobby, usually tracked via GPS instead of written clues

Grammar Patterns

find/hide/discover + a + letter-box

letter-box + verb (contains, holds)

Usage Note

This sense is related to the hobby of letterboxing, which began in Dartmoor, England in the 1850s. The container is hidden in a remote outdoor location, and participants follow clues to find it — similar to geocaching but predating it by more than a century.

Common Mistakes

I found a letter-box with treasures inside.
I found a letter-box with a stamp and logbook inside.
letterboxes in the hobby do not contain valuable items; they contain a stamp for visitors to mark their logbook.

4. a way of showing a widescreen film or video image on a screen with a traditional

4.nounB2
Definition

a way of showing a widescreen film or video image on a screen with a traditional 4:3 shape, where black bars are added above and below the image so that the full width of the original picture is visible without cutting off the sides

Example

Christopher prefers watching classic films in letter-box format because nothing is cut off from the edges of the original picture.

in letter-box format — fixed prepositional phrase

The old television showed the modern movie with thick black bars at the top and bottom in letter-box mode.

letter-box mode — technical compound noun

Common collocations
  • letter-box format
  • letter-box mode
  • letter-box display
  • in letter-box
  • black bars
Synonyms
Antonyms
  • full-screen format

    a cropped version of a widescreen image that fills a 4:3 screen without black bars

  • pan and scan

    a technique that crops and shifts the widescreen frame to fit a narrower screen

Grammar Patterns

in + letter-box + format

letter-box + noun (display, image, mode)

Usage Note

Letter-box format preserves the original aspect ratio of a film. It is the opposite of pan and scan, where a widescreen image is cropped to fit a narrower screen. On modern widescreen televisions (16:9), letter-box bars only appear when watching very wide films (2.35:1 or wider).

Common Mistakes

Letter-box format cuts off the top and bottom of the picture.
Letter-box format adds black bars but shows the full left-to-right image.
the bars preserve, not remove, picture information.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/2

In British English, the object you use to send or receive letters goes by several names. Letter-box is the most general term: it can refer to the slot in a door (sense 1) or a container for post. Postbox is specifically a public box on the street for outgoing mail, usually painted red in the UK. A pillar box is a tall, cylindrical postbox — the classic round red box found on British streets. Mailbox is the standard American term for any mail container, whether private (at the end of a driveway) or public (on a street corner). In Taiwan, 郵筒 usually refers to a public street box, and 信箱 to a private home box. A helpful mindset: if you are sending a letter, you put it in a postbox or mailbox; if the postman leaves letters for you, they go through the letter-box (into your home) or into your mailbox (outside your home).

letter-box ↗postboxmailbox ↗pillar box

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • through the letter-box
  • in letter-box format
  • public letter-box
  • private letter-box

Prepositions

Etymology

Old FrenchLatinOld EnglishEnglish

Letter-box is a compound noun formed from letter (a written message, from Old French lettre, meaning 'character of the alphabet' or 'written message') and box (a container, from Old English box, related to Latin buxus 'box tree'). The word first appeared in English in the early 1800s, around the time when organised postal services began installing collection boxes on streets and mail slots on doors. The film-display sense emerged much later, in the 1980s, when widescreen movies were first released on home video and needed a way to fit standard television screens.