Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Box

Box

(bŏks)
,
Noun.
[As.
box
, L.
buxus
, fr. Gr. [GREEK]. See
Box
a case.]
(Bot.)
A tree or shrub, flourishing in different parts of the world. The common box (
Buxus sempervirens
) has two varieties, one of which, the dwarf box (
Buxus suffruticosa
), is much used for borders in gardens. The wood of the tree varieties, being very hard and smooth, is extensively used in the arts, as by turners, engravers, mathematical instrument makers, etc.
Box elder
,
the ash-leaved maple (
Negundo aceroides
), of North America.
–
Box holly
,
the butcher’s broom (
Russus aculeatus
).
–
Box thorn
,
a shrub (
Lycium barbarum
).
–
Box tree
,
the tree variety of the common box.

Box

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Boxes
[As.
box
a small case or vessel with a cover; akin to OHG.
buhsa
box, G.
büchse
; fr. L.
buxus
boxwood, anything made of boxwood. See
Pyx
, and cf.
Box
a tree,
Bushel
.]
1.
A receptacle or case of any firm material and of various shapes.
2.
The quantity that a box contain.
3.
A space with a few seats partitioned off in a theater, or other place of public amusement.
Laughed at by the pit,
box
, galleries, nay, stage.
Dorset.
The
boxes
and the pit are sovereign judges.
Dryden.
4.
A chest or any receptacle for the deposit of money;
as, a poor
box
; a contribution
box
.
Yet since his neighbors give, the churl unlocks,
Damning the poor, his tripple-bolted
box
.
J. Warton.
5.
A small country house.
“A shooting box.”
Wilson.
Tight
boxes
neatly sashed.
Cowper.
6.
A boxlike shed for shelter;
as, a sentry
box
.
7.
(Mach)
(a)
An axle box, journal box, journal bearing, or bushing.
(b)
A chamber or section of tube in which a valve works; the bucket of a lifting pump.
8.
The driver's seat on a carriage or coach.
9.
A present in a box; a present; esp. a Christmas box or gift.
“A Christmas box.”
Dickens.
10.
(Baseball)
The square in which the pitcher stands.
11.
(Zool.)
A Mediterranean food fish; the bogue.
☞ Box is much used adjectively or in composition; as box lid, box maker, box circle, etc.; also with modifying substantives; as money box, letter box, bandbox, hatbox or hat box, snuff box or snuffbox.
Box beam
(Arch.)
,
a beam made of metal plates so as to have the form of a long box.
–
Box car
(Railroads)
,
a freight car covered with a roof and inclosed on the sides to protect its contents.
–
Box chronometer
,
a ship's chronometer, mounted in gimbals, to preserve its proper position.
–
Box coat
,
a thick overcoat for driving; sometimes with a heavy cape to carry off the rain.
–
Box coupling
,
a metal collar uniting the ends of shafts or other parts in machinery.
–
Box crab
(Zool.)
,
a crab of the genus
Calappa
, which, when at rest with the legs retracted, resembles a box.
–
Box drain
(Arch.)
,
a drain constructed with upright sides, and with flat top and bottom.
–
Box girder
(Arch.)
,
a box beam.
–
Box groove
(Metal Working)
,
a closed groove between two rolls, formed by a collar on one roll fitting between collars on another.
R. W. Raymond.
–
Box metal
, an alloy of copper and tin, or of zinc, lead, and antimony, for the bearings of journals, etc. –
Box plait
,
a plait that doubles both to the right and the left.
–
Box turtle
or
Box tortoise
(Zool.)
,
a land tortoise or turtle of the genera
Cistudo
and
Emys
; – so named because it can withdraw entirely within its shell, which can be closed by hinged joints in the lower shell. Also, humorously, an exceedingly reticent person.
Emerson.
–
In a box
,
in a perplexity or an embarrassing position; in difficulty.
(Colloq.)
–
In the wrong box
,
out of one's place; out of one's element; awkwardly situated.
(Colloq.)
Ridley (1554)

Box

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Boxed
([GREEK]);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Boxing
.]
1.
To inclose in a box.
2.
To furnish with boxes, as a wheel.
3.
(Arch.)
To inclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to bring to a required form.
To box a tree
,
to make an incision or hole in a tree for the purpose of procuring the sap.
–
To box off
,
to divide into tight compartments.
–
To box up
.
(a)
To put into a box in order to save; as, he had boxed up twelve score pounds.
(b)
To confine; as, to be boxed up in narrow quarters.

Box

,
Noun.
[Cf.Dan.
baske
to slap,
bask
slap, blow. Cf.
Pash
.]
A blow on the head or ear with the hand.
A good-humored
box
on the ear.
W. Irving.

Box

,
Verb.
I.
To fight with the fist; to combat with, or as with, the hand or fist; to spar.

Box

,
Verb.
T.
To strike with the hand or fist, especially to strike on the ear, or on the side of the head.

Box

,
Verb.
T.
[Cf.Sp.
boxar
, now spelt
bojar
.]
To boxhaul.
To box off
(Naut.)
,
to turn the head of a vessel either way by bracing the headyards aback.
–
To box the compass
(Naut.)
,
to name the thirty-two points of the compass in their order.

Webster 1828 Edition

Box

BOX

,
Noun.
[Lat. buxus, the tree, and pyxis, a box; Gr. a box, and the tree.]
A coffer or chest, either of wood or metal. In general, the word box is used for a case of rough boards, or more slightly made than a chest,and used for the conveyance of goods. But the name is applied to cases of any size and of any materials; as a wooden box, a tin box, an iron box, a strong box.
1.
The quantity that a box contains; as a box of quicksilver; a box or rings. In some cases,the quantity called a box is fixed by custom; in others,it is uncertain, as a box of tea or sugar.
2.
A certain seat in a play-house, or in any public room.
3.
The case which contains the mariner's compass.
4.
A money chest.
5.
A tree or shrub, constituting the genus buxus, used for bordering flower-beds. The African box is the myrsine.
6.
A blow on the head with the hand, or on the ear with the open hand.
7.
A cylindrical hollow iron used in wheels, in which the axle-tree runs. Also, a hollow tube in a pump, closed with a valve.

BOX

,
Verb.
I.
To fight with the fist; to combat with the hand or fist.

BOX

,
Verb.
T.
To inclose in a box; also, to furnish with boxes, as a wheel or block.
1.
To strike with the hand or fist, especially the ear or side of the head.
2.
To rehearse the several points of the compass in their proper order.
3.
To make a hole or cut in a tree, to procure the sap; as, to box a maple.
4.
To sail round.

Definition 2024

Box

Box

See also: box and b'ox

German

Noun

Box f ‎(genitive Box, plural Boxen)

  1. box (rectangular container)
  2. loudspeaker (encasing containing one or more loudspeaker devices)

Luxembourgish

Noun

Box f ‎(plural Boxen)

  1. trousers

box

box

See also: Box and b'ox

English

A wooden 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, offensive)  The ****.
  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.
Usage notes
Synonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
Translations
rectangular border around a section of text
computing: computer def. usage syn.

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.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English box, from Old English box, from Latin buxus, from Ancient Greek πύξος ‎(púxos, “box tree”).

Noun

box ‎(plural boxes)

  1. Any of various evergreen shrubs or trees of the genus Buxus.
    • 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.
  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.”
Derived terms
Synonyms
  • (evergreen shrub or tree): boxwood
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 3

From Middle English boxen ‎(“to box, beat”) and box ‎(“a blow, a hit”), of unknown origin but apparently akin to Middle Dutch boke ‎(“a blow, a hit”), Middle High German buc ‎(“a blow”), Danish bask ‎(“a blow”). See also Ancient Greek πύξ ‎(púx), πυγμή ‎(pugmḗ) (fist, pugilism)

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.
Synonyms
Translations

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.
Derived terms
Descendants
Translations

Czech

box

Noun

box m

  1. boxing (the sport of boxing)

Declension

Related terms

French

Etymology

From English box.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɔks/

Noun

box m ‎(plural box or boxes)

  1. stall (for a horse), loose box
  2. compartment, cubicle
  3. garage, lock-up (for a car)
Derived terms
  • box des accusés

External links

Noun

box f ‎(plural box)

  1. Electronic equipment used for internet access (component of the digital subscriber line technology)

Icelandic

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈpɔxs/

Noun

box n ‎(genitive singular box, nominative plural box)

  1. box (container)
  2. (sports) boxing

Declension

Derived terms

Italian

Etymology

Borrowing from English box.

Noun

box m ‎(invariable)

  1. horsebox
  2. garage, lock-up (for a car)
  3. (motor racing) pit
  4. playpen

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βώξ ‎(bṓx).

Pronunciation

Noun

bōx m ‎(genitive bōcis); third declension

  1. A kind of marine fish

Inflection

Third declension.

Case Singular Plural
nominative bōx bōcēs
genitive bōcis bōcum
dative bōcī bōcibus
accusative bōcem bōcēs
ablative bōce bōcibus
vocative bōx bōcēs

References

Portuguese

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowing from English box.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbɔks/

Noun

box m (plural boxes)

  1. the curtain or glass panes which separate the shower from the rest of the bathroom
    • 2003, Eileen G. de Paiva e Mello, Questão de Tempo, Thesaurus Editora, page 150:
      A mais velha procurava arrancar a cortina do box, pendurando-se nela!
      The oldest one wanted to pull off the stall curtain by hanging to it!

Romanian

Etymology 1

From French boxe.

Noun

box n ‎(plural boxuri)

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

Etymology 2

From French box.

Noun

box

  1. bovine leather

Etymology 3

Noun

box

  1. A breed of bulldog.

Spanish

Noun

box m ‎(plural boxes)

  1. boxing
  2. (motor racing) pit
  3. (sports) box

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

box c

  1. box, crate; a cuboid container

Declension

Inflection of box 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative box boxen boxar boxarna
Genitive box boxens boxars boxarnas

Related terms

Etymology

Borrowing from English box.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bɔks/

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