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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

Throughout their nearly 70-year run, the Chipmunks have squeaked out 38 studio albums, raked in more than $1 billion at the box office and won five Grammys.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026

Bonta said the merger would stifle competition, increase consumer costs and reduce choice at the box office.

From Salon ● Jul. 13, 2026

"And if you look at the American box office, the way our film worked there, you can probably see why."

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

The original 2016 animated movie brought in more than $643 million worldwide and is the most-watched movie on Disney+, while a 2024 sequel grossed more than $1 billion at the global box office.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

When the performance ended, he marched right to the box office and bought tickets for the next night.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

Here’s a look at some of the biggest earners of all time, with background courtesy of IMDb and North American box-office receipts, adjusted for inflation, from Box Office Mojo:

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026

Disney’s live-action remakes have largely been box-office boons for the company, with a few exceptions.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026

The frenzy traces back to the enduring global box-office runs of two low-budget horror films, Curry Barker’s “Obsession” and Kane Parsons’ “Backrooms,” which have earned $403 million and $349 million, respectively.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026

“That would be a soft opening for a superhero movie and would put it on track for maybe $200 million worldwide,” said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research, which analyzes box-office data.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

This contemporary lithograph lampoons the panicked gentry who fled the city - and thus turned Handel’s new oratorio, Theodora, into a box-office flop.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• gate