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• box office
  box office

  noun

  the office of a theater, stadium, or the like, at which tickets are sold.
• box-office
  box-office

  adjective

  of or relating to the box office or to the business and commercial aspects of the theater.

box office

¹ American  

noun

• box offices
  plural

1. the office of a theater, stadium, or the like, at which tickets are sold.

2. Theater.

   1. receipts from a play or other entertainment.

   2. entertainment popular enough to attract paying audiences and make a profit.

      This show will be good box office.

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box-office ² American  

[boks-aw-fis, -of-is] / ˈbɒksˌɔ fɪs, -ˌɒf ɪs /

adjective

1. of or relating to the box office or to the business and commercial aspects of the theater.

   a box-office window; box-office receipts; a box-office attraction.

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box office British  

noun

1. an office at a theatre, cinema, etc, where tickets are sold

2. the receipts from a play, film, etc

3. 1. the public appeal of an actor or production

      the musical was bad box office

   2. ( as modifier )

      a box-office success

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box office Idioms  

1. The office where seats for a play, concert, or other form of entertainment may be purchased, as in Tickets are available at the box office . It is so called because originally (17th century) it was the place for hiring a box, a special compartment of theater seats set aside for ladies. [Second half of 1700s]

2. The financial receipts from a performance; also, a show's relative success in attracting a paying audience. For example, You may not consider it great art, but this play is good box office . [c. 1900]

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• box offices
  plural

Etymology

Origin of box office¹

First recorded in 1780–90

Origin of box-office²

First recorded in 1805–15; adj. use of box office

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

box office box-office

"Practical Magic 2" cast away Sony's "Spider-Man" from its weeks-long perch atop the North American box office, industry estimates showed Sunday.

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

What do you do when a creative team mounts an acclaimed production of a beloved play, breaking box office records as one of the most successful shows in your theater’s more than 100-year history?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Mickey-Jo Boucher is a theatre critic and content creator and tells Newsbeat that stunt casting is needed to "interest ticket buyers", especially for shows that might be "slowing down at the box office".

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

The last time the videogame about rampaging undead was adapted, in 2021, the box office haul was paltry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

After selling my last ticket and turning over the sign, I exited through the box office door, locked it behind me, and went into the lobby.

From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher

That figure exceeded the venue’s full-year box-office results for 98 of the 99 years it has been in business, Brett Fellman, president of film and marketing at the theater, said in late August.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

“There was a general philosophy in Hollywood that the billion-dollar-movie box-office days were behind us,” said Sanford Panitch, president of the motion picture group at Sony Pictures.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2026

Either way, it promises to be box-office stuff.

From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2026

But after an indie distributor rescued it, the Looney Tunes flick made a triumphant debut in theaters, earning the No. 2 box-office slot this weekend.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026

Will you be content with that standard box-office schmalz?

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger

Related Words

• gate