box

Noun

box (plural boxes) (see also Usage notes below)

1. A cuboid space; a container, usually with a hinged lid.
   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 1, in The China Governess‎:

     The huge square box, parquet-floored and high-ceilinged, had been arranged to display a suite of bedroom furniture designed and made in the halcyon days of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, […].

2. As much as fills a such a container.

   a box of books

3. A compartment of a storage furniture, or of a part of such a furniture, such as of a drawer, shelving, etc.
4. A compartment to sit in at a theater, courtroom, or auditorium.
5. A small rectangular shelter like a booth.

   a sentry box

6. A rectangle.

   Place a tick or a cross in the box.

   This text would stand out better if we put it in a box of colour.

7. An input field on an interactive electronic display.
8. A numbered receptacle at a newspaper office for anonymous replies to advertisements.
9. A trap or predicament.

   I'm really in a box now.

10. The driver's seat on a coach.
11. (cricket)  A hard protector for the genitals worn by a batsman or close fielder inside the underpants.
12. (engineering)  A cylindrical casing around for example a bearing or gland.
13. (soccer)  The penalty area.
    • 2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC‎:

      Poised link-up play between Essien and Lampard set the Ghanaian midfielder free soon after but his left-footed shot from outside the box was too weak.

14. (computing, slang)  A computer, or the case in which it is housed. ^{usage syn. transl.}

    a UNIX box

    • 1996, Siu Ha Vivian Chu, DEC vt320 → linux boxen in comp.os.linux.networking

      i can't seem to find any how-to regarding connecting a terminal to a linux boxen via parallel port...

    • 2002, Gregory Seidman, serving debian to redhat boxen in muc.lists.debian.user

      Furthermore, it is necessary that all four Linux boxen have the same development environment...

15. (slang, with the)  Television.
16. (slang, vulgar)  The vagina.
17. (euphemistic)  Coffin.
18. (juggling)  A pattern usually performed with three balls where the movements of the balls make a boxlike shape.
19. Horse box.
    • 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty Chapter 22

      He was a fine-looking middle-aged man, and his voice said at once that he expected to be obeyed. He was very friendly and polite to John, and after giving us a slight look, he called a groom to take us to our boxes, and invited John to take some refreshment.

20. (baseball) The rectangle in which the batter stands.
21. A Mediterranean food fish; the bogue.
22. (dated) A small country house.

    a shooting box

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Wilson to this entry?)

    • Cowper

      tight boxes neatly sashed

23. (informal) box lacrosse
24. (genetics) One of two specific regions in a promoter.
25. (fencing) A device used in electric fencing to detect whether a weapon has struck an opponent, connecting to the fencers' weapons via spool and body wire. It uses lights and sound to notify of a hit, with different coloured lights for on target and off target hits.

Verb

box (third-person singular simple present boxes, present participle boxing, simple past and past participle boxed)

1. (transitive) To place inside a box; to pack in boxes.
2. (transitive, usually with 'in') To hem in.
3. (transitive, object-oriented programming) To place a value of a primitive type into a corresponding object.
4. (transitive) To mix two containers of paint of similar color to ensure that the color is identical.
5. (transitive) To furnish (e.g. a wheel) with boxes.
6. (architecture) To enclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to bring to a required form.
7. (transitive) To make an incision or hole in (a tree) for the purpose of procuring the sap.

Noun

box (plural boxes)

1. Any of various evergreen shrubs or trees of the genus Buxus.
   • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre, 1st edition, volume II, chapter V, pages 130-131

     He strayed down a walk edged with box; with apple trees, pear trees, and cherry trees on one side […]

   • 2014 November 19, Ambra Edwards, “Topiary: We're all going bonkers about box [print version: Bonkers about box, 22 November 2014, p. G3]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening)‎:

     "Box makes a statement without having to do much: just trim twice a year and keep it weeded. It's a bit of a lazy gardener's plant." This, no doubt, is what makes box so popular with show home developers and city dwellers – there is scarce a balcony or front door anywhere that cannot be improved by a box ball in a pot.

   Synonym: boxwood

2. Boxwood: the wood from a box tree.
   • 1884, John R. Jackson, “Boxwood and its Substitutes”, reprinted in Journal of the Society of Arts, 1885 April 10, page 567:

     Nevertheless, the application of woods other than box for purposes for which that wood is now used would tend to lessen the demand for box, and thus might have an effect in lowering its price.

3. (Australia) Species of Lophostemon.
4. (slang) A musical instrument, especially/usually one made from boxwood.
   • 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Harper Perennial (2000), page 100:

     “Evenin’, folks. Thought y’all might lak uh lil music this evenin’ so Ah brought long mah box.”

Noun

box (plural boxes)

1. A blow with the fist.
   • Washington Irving

     And then he whispered something to the girl which made her laugh, and give him a good-humored box on the ear.

   • 1837–1839, Charles Dickens, chapter 7, in Oliver Twist‎, HTML edition:

     'Now, you are a nice young fellow, ain't you?' said Sowerberry; giving Oliver a shake, and a box on the ear.

Verb

box (third-person singular simple present boxes, present participle boxing, simple past and past participle boxed)

1. (transitive) To strike with fists; to punch.

   box someone's ears

   Leave this place before I box you!

   • 1847, Charlotte Brontë, chapter 4, in Jane Eyre‎, HTML edition:

     Mrs. Reed soon rallied her spirits: she shook me most soundly, she boxed both my ears, and then left me without a word.

2. (transitive) To fight against (a person) in a boxing match.
3. (intransitive) To participate in boxing; to be a boxer.

Declension

Related terms

• boxér
• boxérky
• boxovat

Derived terms

• box des accusés

Further reading

• “box” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Declension

Derived terms

• boxa
• boxhanski
• nestisbox

Inflection

Third declension.

Descendants

• English: box

Noun

box n (plural boxuri)

1. (sports) boxing (the sport of)
2. A kind of sword.

Noun

box

1. bovine leather

Noun

box

1. A breed of bulldog.

Further reading

• “box” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Declension

Derived terms

• frysbox
• kylbox
• postbox