boom box

American  

noun

Informal.

• boom boxes
  plural

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• boom boxes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of boom box

First recorded in 1980–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

boom box

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 2, 2026

Watching him come out on a bare stage with a boom box and say, "I've got a tape I want to play," or ask, "Does anybody have any questions?" is charming.

From Salon ● Sep. 21, 2023

Passersby walked on as a boom box tied to the car’s roof repeatedly blared the words “The Ixil people do remember” and played the judge’s genocide verdict.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 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

Once, in a supreme act of desperation, I stood outside her palace gates for two solid hours, with a boom box over my head, blasting “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel at full volume.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline