boom box

American  

noun

Informal.

1. a large, powerful portable radio and often cassette or CD player.

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Etymology

Origin of boom box

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

He’s going to come to set with a boom box and blast, like, Phil Collins.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 2, 2026

I was tying my Nikes extra tight on the basketball court, when Duncan planted has boom box at the end of the bench.

From Salon • May 14, 2023

The defendant and two of his friends boarded the same train and one of them played music from a boom box speaker.

From BBC • Mar. 20, 2023

Kids 2 also owns Baby Einstein, a brand I recognized from a ubiquitous colorful boom box that plays classical melodies, songs that I tired of far more quickly than my beloved Buggie’s melody.

From New York Times • Dec. 23, 2022

Eventually, someone brought out a decades-old boom box, and even the kids with guitars stopped playing in deference to the Beach Boys.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken