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Boxing Day

American  
[bok-sing dey] / ˈbɒk sɪŋ ˌdeɪ /

noun

  1. (in the United Kingdom and many other members of the Commonwealth of Nations) the day after Christmas.


Boxing Day British  

noun

  1. the first day (traditionally and strictly, the first weekday) after Christmas, observed as a holiday

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of Boxing Day

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Much of Aceh already had to be reconstructed with international assistance after 2004's Boxing Day tsunami, which killed more than 170,000 people in the province alone.

From Barron's Feb. 25, 2026

And so the tradition has continued and on Boxing Day last year, Clarke was hunting for the beads, but she spotted an altogether very different looking fossil amongst the pebbles on the beach.

From BBC Feb. 19, 2026

Christine Clark, 64, was hunting for fossils during a Boxing Day walk on Holy Island, Northumberland when something caught her eye.

From BBC Feb. 19, 2026

Organisers of some Christmas and Boxing Day swims in Devon and Cornwall had postponed or cancelled events due to a yellow weather warning for wind.

From BBC Jan. 21, 2026

On Boxing Day its transformer blew up and nearly wiped out his entire family.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

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