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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

LeBron James has fled to the Eastern Conference but the Lakers remain a major box office ticket for the NBA.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

“What it really comes down to is that people want to be involved in something that’s bigger than themselves that’s positive,” said Paul Dergarabedian, head of marketplace trends at Rentrak, which analyzes box office data.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

We saw soccer devotees boost local economies and Spidey set box office records.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

While the company praised the box office performance of "Toy Story 5" and "The Devil Wears Prada 2," it saw "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" underperform.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

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

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

But Kelly’s track record and box-office power couldn’t quell MGM’s concerns about the commercial viability of his passion project.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

In all instances, Mattel hasn’t informed Wall Street of how production and marketing costs are split, or what box-office benchmarks and toy sales constitute a success, analysts said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” opened to an estimated $927 million in global box-office sales, making it the second-biggest film debut ever, according to the studio.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

Though their big-screen adventures could not capture the comedic chaos of their stage act, Martin and Lewis transformed even the most pedestrian screenplay into box-office gold.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 25, 2026

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

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

Related Words

• gate