jack-in-the-box
Americannoun
-
jack-in-the-boxes
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of jack-in-the-box
First recorded in 1545–55
Explanation
Do you enjoy being startled? Try playing with a jack-n-the-box. Operated with a crank, this kind of music box plays a little tune until a clown suddenly pops out of an opening in the top. Fun! A jack-in-the-box can be a bit terrifying, especially to a very small child who's not expecting to see a scary (or smiling) face emerge abruptly from a colorful music box. The history of this strange toy emphasizes its frightening nature. In France, it's called diable en boîte, or "devil in a box," and is thought to be inspired by a 14th-century English folklore hero who captured the devil in his boot.
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.
See Examples For:
"As far as anyone knew, the T cell receptor didn't undergo any conformational changes when binding to these antigens. But we found that it does, springing open like a sort of jack-in-the-box."
From Science Daily ● Dec. 18, 2025
When I’m gone, they tuck her in, and at 2 a.m., when she pops up like a jack-in-the-box, giggling and whining, they sit with her until she exhausts herself and falls back to sleep.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2025
Australia left the UK last summer with their baggy greens spinning, and India are now twisting the handle of the jack-in-the-box, terrified of when it will burst open.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2024
He demonstrates with a broad smile, his sinewy frame repeatedly squatting, then snapping back up, like a peppy jack-in-the-box.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2024
The knowledge buzzed through my days and made me jump unexpectedly like a jack-in-the-box.
From "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou
The charm and experimental spontaneity of A Hard Day's Night has here been replaced by highly professional, carefully calculated camera work and cutting, plus a story line made out of finely wrought jack-in-the-boxes.
From Time Magazine Archive
She laughed pretty laughs; she admired everything; she took out the darling little jack-in-the-boxes, and was so obliged to Sam.
From The History of Pendennis, Volume 2 His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy by William Makepeace Thackeray
He has got a hat full of jack-in-the-boxes.
From The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 2, January, 1851 by Various
Dolls and drums and horns, jack-in-the-boxes, toy lambs, furry dogs, soft white rabbits stuck out in every direction.
From Little Friend Lydia by Ethel Calvert Phillips
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
