honesty box

British

noun

a container into which members of the public are trusted to place payments when there is no attendant to collect them

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Megan Jackson, from Hetton-le-Hole, Sunderland, bakes and displays her own treats with an honesty box, which trusts customers to pay the correct amount of money while unattended.

From BBC • Jan. 19, 2026

Laura stays up late to bake once a month, so they can fill their honesty box - or bake shed - in order to raise money, and awareness.

From BBC • Dec. 12, 2025

But she says QR codes change the dynamics of an honesty box, and the sense of trust.

From BBC • Nov. 8, 2025

She installed the honesty box earlier this year and it has brought in enough money to pay the rent at her bakery on a nearby industrial estate.

From BBC • Nov. 8, 2025

Radiohead put out In Rainbows as a digital download in 2007 employing an "honesty box" scheme.

From The Guardian • Dec. 25, 2010

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023