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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

Her 1984 movie “Rhinestone,” a romantic comedy with Sylvester Stallone, bricked at the box office.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026

It's so bad, it's become a box office hit.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

It’s the second-fastest movie to reach that milestone, according to Rentrak’s Paul Dergarabedian, who sees a $10 billion year at the box office within reach.

From Barron's ● Aug. 16, 2026

If the box office is a fair, measurable indicator of how the public feels about these superhero archetypes, guess what?

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Yes, she would send him home, take over the box office, and then find a more suitable dinner.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

But “with one or two box-office successes I was completely restored in the Hollywood community,” he wrote.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 2026

The Angels were once a major box-office draw, attracting more than 3 million fans for 17 consecutive seasons in the wake of their lone World Series title in 2002, just before Moreno’s arrival.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

That’s not to say all is flopping now for Zaslav and team: “Wuthering Heights” and Evil Dead Burn did pretty well, and the upcoming Dune: Part Three is already wreaking box-office havoc.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 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

Then, in 1750, he premiered a controversial new work that was a box-office flop.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• gate