Jump To:

• 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.

---

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.

---

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

---

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]

---

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

The newly confirmed dates mark the next phase of Oasis's comeback following their acclaimed 2025 reunion tour, which made an estimated £300 million at the box office.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

Curry Barker knew he was making a good movie when he directed "Obsession" -- but he never expected it to become a box office phenomenon that would make Hollywood obsessed with him.

From Barron's ● Sep. 13, 2026

The film wasn’t screened for critics or promoted heavily by 20th Century Fox, and it flopped hard at the box office.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

Bountiful DVD sales meant most films were profitable, even if they weren’t box office blockbusters.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

James Ford steps out of the box office thinking Booth is pulling some crazy stunt to get attention.

From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 2, 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