Box Meaning

/bɒks/
A1

Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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nounSenses relating to a three-dimensional object or space.

nounSenses relating to a three-dimensional object or space., A cuboid space; a cuboid container, often with a hinged lid.

You may take either the big box or the small one.
Do you know what this box is made of?
The instructions on the box are very confusing.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He packed his belongings into a cardboard ____ before moving to the new house.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I put all the old books into a large ____ and stored them in the attic.

Etymology tree Ancient Greek πῠ́ξος (pŭ́xos) Ancient Greek -ῐς (-ĭs) Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís)bor. Late Latin buxisbor. Proto-West Germanic *buhsā Old English box Middle English box English box From Middle English box (“container, box, cup”), from Old English box (“box, case”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā (“box”) from Late Latin buxis (“box”), Latin pyxis (“small box for medicines or toiletries”), of uncertain origin; compare Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”) and πύξος (púxos, “box tree; boxwood”). Doublet of piseog, pyx, and pyxis. Cognate with Middle Dutch bosse, busse (“jar; tin; round box”) (modern Dutch bos (“wood, forest”), bus (“container, box; bushing of a wheel”)), Old High German buhsa (Middle High German buhse, bühse, modern German Büchse (“box; can”)), Swedish bössa (“box”). The humorous plural form boxen is from box + -en, by analogy with oxen. (motor racing): Used since it is more distinct over the radio compared to pit. Also from German Boxenstopp (“pit stop”).

"A terrible voice in the hall cried, "Bring down Master Scrooge's box, there!" and in the hall appeared the schoolmaster himself, who glared on Master Scrooge with a ferocious condescension, and threw him into a dreadful state of mind by shaking hands with him." — 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 55:
"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, when modish taste was just due to go clean out of fashion for the best part of the next hundred years." — 1963, Margery Allingham, “The Elopers”, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC, page 33:
"He brought me also a Box of Sugar, a Box of Flour, a Bag full of Lemons, and two Bottles of Lime-juice, and abundance of other Things: […]" — 1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 325:
"She'd picked up the high-tech phone from a post office box in Toronto a month ago. The key to that box had been mailed to a post office box in New York City. The Russians loved their cloak-and-dagger, particularly former KGB and Spetsnaz, Soviet special forces who ran the mafia, […]" — 2015 March, Cindy Gerard, chapter 10, in Running Blind, 1st Pocket Books paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, →ISBN, page 73:
"Add five words for address if replies are to come to a box number address at any of our offices. These replies are forwarded each day as received, in new envelopes at no extra charge. […] When replying to blind ads be careful to put on your envelope the correct box number and do not enclose original letters of recommendation—send copies." — 1924 December 1, “The Broadcaster: A Department that will Find what You Want: A Central Clearing House for All Your Business Wants”, in C. A. Musselman, editor, Automobile Trade Journal, volume XXIX, number 6, Philadelphia, Pa.: Chilton Company, […], →OCLC, page 618, column 2:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
He packed his belongings into a cardboard ____ before moving to the new house.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
I put all the old books into a large ____ and stored them in the attic.

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