box score

noun

Sports.

1. a record of the play of a game, especially a baseball or basketball game, in which, on separate sides of the record, the players on each team are listed in a column by name and position, with additional rows of columns, each headed by the abbreviation of the type of information to be given for each player.

Word History and Origins

Origin of box score¹

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15

Idioms and Phrases

A detailed summary of actions or an event, as in The President wanted to base his reelection campaign on his box score . The term comes from baseball, where since about 1910 it has signified a statistical summary in table form of the essential details of a game. About 1930 it began to be used figuratively, especially by politicians referring to their own record while in office.

In military slang, the number of dead, wounded, or missing in action. For example, Never mind the details of the battle; just give the lieutenant the box score . [c. 1950]

Example Sentences

The next time Austin Reaves refers to his non-Luka Doncic and non-LeBron James teammates as his “supporting cast” someone should show him the box score from the Thunder rout: five turnovers, 0 for 5 on three-point shots, four for 12 from the field, and three assists in 30 minutes.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers are going to the World Series for the second consecutive season because Ohtani carried them there with a box score that defies belief.

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Burton lettered in basketball at San Francisco State College and kept a clipping of a newspaper box score showing he scored 20 points against a University of San Francisco team that included young Bill Russell, one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

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In the box score, all was not well.

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And — in what didn’t reflect itself in the box score the way it did on the hardwood — the Energizer Bunny chimed in with four.

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