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box
1[ boks ]
/ bɒks /
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noun
verb (used with object)
Verb Phrases
box out, Basketball. to position oneself between an opposing player and the basket to hinder the opposing player from rebounding or tipping in a shot; block out.
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Idioms about box
out of the box, Australian Slang. remarkable or exceptional; extraordinary.
outside the box, Informal. in an innovative or unconventional manner; with a fresh perspective: You have to think outside the box and adapt those strategies to your business.Also out of the box .
Origin of box
1OTHER WORDS FROM box
boxlike, adjectiveWords nearby box
Other definitions for box (2 of 4)
box2
[ boks ]
/ bɒks /
verb (used with object)
to fight against (someone) in a boxing match.
to strike with the hand or fist, especially on the ear.
verb (used without object)
noun
a blow, as with the hand or fist: He gave the boy a box on his ear.
Origin of box
2First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English box “a blow,” boxen “to beat,” of uncertain origin
Other definitions for box (3 of 4)
box3
[ boks ]
/ bɒks /
noun
an evergreen shrub or small tree of the genus Buxus, especially B. sempervirens, having shiny, elliptic, dark-green leaves, used for ornamental borders, hedges, etc., and yielding a hard, durable wood.
the wood itself.
any of various other shrubs or trees, especially species of eucalyptus.
Compare boxwood.
Origin of box
3First recorded before 950; Middle English, Old English, from Latin buxus “boxwood,” from Greek pýxos
Other definitions for box (4 of 4)
box4
[ boks ]
/ bɒks /
verb (used with object)
Nautical. to boxhaul (often followed by off).
Meteorology. to fly around the center of a storm in a boxlike pattern in order to gather meteorological data: to box a storm.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use box in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for box (1 of 3)
box1
/ (bɒks) /
noun
verb
Derived forms of box
boxlike, adjectiveWord Origin for box
Old English box, from Latin buxus from Greek puxos box ³
British Dictionary definitions for box (2 of 3)
box2
/ (bɒks) /
verb
(tr) to fight (an opponent) in a boxing match
(intr) to engage in boxing
(tr) to hit (a person) with the fist; punch or cuff
box clever to behave in a careful and cunning way
noun
a punch with the fist, esp on the ear
Word Origin for box
C14: of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Dutch boken to shunt, push into position
British Dictionary definitions for box (3 of 3)
box3
/ (bɒks) /
noun
a dense slow-growing evergreen tree or shrub of the genus Buxus, esp B. sempervirens, which has small shiny leaves and is used for hedges, borders, and garden mazes: family Buxaceae
the wood of this treeSee boxwood (def. 1)
any of several trees the timber or foliage of which resembles this tree, esp various species of Eucalyptus with rough bark
Word Origin for box
Old English, from Latin buxus
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Other Idioms and Phrases with box
box
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.