music box

American  

noun

music boxes plural

1. a box or case containing an apparatus for producing music mechanically, as by means of a comblike steel plate with tuned teeth sounded by small pegs or pins in the surface of a revolving cylinder or disk.

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music box British  

noun

1. a mechanical instrument that plays tunes by means of pins on a revolving cylinder striking the tuned teeth of a comblike metal plate, contained in a box

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• music boxes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of music box

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

The show opened with Rosalía portraying a music box ballerina, her movements restricted, with dancers required to carry her across the stage.

From BBC • May 6, 2026

Aficionados will delight in minor details such as being close enough to touch the ghoulish monkey music box from the original, and being within breathing distance of the performers in these famous roles.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025

Our next stop was Culver City, where he gave me a music box that played “Edelweiss.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 18, 2024

There, in the Morris Museum’s collection of mechanical musical instruments and automata, is a music box from around 1877.

From New York Times • Apr. 2, 2024

My arm began moving, turning the invisible crank of Death’s music box.

From "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys