boxes

noun

Senses relating to a three-dimensional object or space.

A cuboid space; a cuboid container, often with a hinged lid.

A cuboid container and its contents; as much as fills such a container.

A compartment (as a drawer) of an item of furniture used for storage, such as a cupboard, a shelf, etc.

A compartment or receptacle for receiving items.

A numbered receptacle at a newspaper office for anonymous replies to advertisements; see also box number.

A compartment to sit inside in an auditorium, courtroom, theatre, or other building.

The driver’s seat on a horse-drawn coach.

A small rectangular shelter.

(figuratively) A predicament or trap.

(slang) A prison cell.

(slang) A cell used for solitary confinement.

(euphemistic) A coffin.

(slang, preceded by the) The television.

(slang, vulgar) The vagina.

(computing, slang) A computer, or the case in which it is housed.

(slang) A gym dedicated to the CrossFit exercise program.

(cricket) A hard protector for the genitals worn inside the underpants by a batsman or close fielder.

(cricket) Synonym of gully (“a certain fielding position”).

(engineering) A cylindrical casing around the axle of a wheel, a bearing, a gland, etc.

(fencing) A device used in electric fencing to detect whether a weapon has struck an opponent, which connects to a fencer's weapon by a spool and body wire. It uses lights and sound to notify a hit, with different coloured lights for on target and off target hits.

(colloquial, chiefly Southern US) A stringed instrument with a soundbox, especially a guitar.

Senses relating to a two-dimensional object or space

A rectangle: an oblong or a square.

(baseball) The rectangle in which the batter stands.

(genetics) One of two specific regions in a promoter.

(juggling) A pattern usually performed with three balls where the movements of the balls make a boxlike shape.

(soccer) The penalty area.

(aviation) A diamond-shaped flying formation consisting of four aircraft.

(motor racing) An area in the pit where the car is repaired and refueled.

(geometry, by extension) A rectangular object in any number of dimensions.

Any of various evergreen shrubs or trees of genus Buxus, especially common box, European box, or boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) which is often used for making hedges and topiary.

The wood from a box tree: boxwood.

(music, slang) A musical instrument, especially one made from boxwood.

(Australia) An evergreen tree of the genus Lophostemon (for example, box scrub, Brisbane box, brush box, pink box, or Queensland box, Lophostemon confertus).

(Australia) Various species of Eucalyptus trees are popularly called various kinds of boxes, on the basis of the nature of their wood, bark, or appearance for example, drooping box (Eucalyptus bicolor), shiny-leaved box (Eucalyptus tereticornis), black box, or ironbark box trees.

A blow with the fist.

A surname.

A village in Minchinhampton parish, south of Stroud, Gloucestershire, England (OS grid ref SO8600).

A village and civil parish near Corsham, Wiltshire, England (OS grid ref ST8268).

Ellipsis of horsebox (“container for transporting horses”). [(UK) A motor vehicle for transporting horses.]

(automotive) Ellipsis of gearbox. [An enclosed gear train.]

(automotive) Ellipsis of stashbox. [A box used to store a stash of something, especially illicit narcotics.]

(rail transport) Ellipsis of signal box. [A building, typically adjacent to or spanning a railway line, from where signals, points and (sometimes) level crossings are controlled.]

(colloquial, chiefly UK, Ireland) Short for squeeze box (“accordion or concertina”) [(music, informal) An accordion or concertina.]

(lacrosse, informal) Ellipsis of box lacrosse (“indoor form of lacrosse”). [An indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America, and distinguished from field lacrosse.]

(dated) A small country house.

(dated) A Mediterranean food fish of the genus Boops, which is a variety of sea bream; a bogue or oxeye.

verb

(transitive) To place inside a box; to pack in one or more boxes.

(transitive) Usually followed by in: to surround and enclose in a way that restricts movement; to corner, to hem in.

(transitive) To mix two containers of paint of similar colour to ensure that the color is identical.

(transitive, agriculture) To make an incision or hole in (a tree) for the purpose of procuring the sap.

(transitive, architecture) To enclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to conceal (for example, pipes) or to bring to a required form.

(transitive, engineering) To furnish (for example, the axle of a wheel) with a box.

(transitive, graphic design, printing) To enclose (images, text, etc.) in a box.

(transitive, object-oriented programming) To place a value of a primitive type into a casing object.

(motor racing) To enter the pit.

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

(transitive, boxing) To fight against (a person) in a boxing match.

(intransitive, stative, boxing) To participate in boxing; to be a boxer.

Synonyms & related words for boxes

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Words related to boxes

Explore words related to boxes — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include boxful, boxwood, shoebox, boxlike, boxroom, loge, crates, attics. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.