music box

noun

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.

music box

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of music box¹

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

The painting is of a human heart set inside a wind-up music box that has a metal rod poking out of the pulmonary artery.

From The Daily Beast

Music Box: An ornate music box that figures prominently into the Dark Shadows mythos.

From The Daily Beast

“I made a story in my mind where the captain of the toy solders is in love with the music-box ballerina,” she says.

From The Daily Beast

But Mill might have said the same thing about the price of a music box, provided it was properly patented, anywhere at all.

From Project Gutenberg

What do you want to do with the fiddle—think it's a music box?

From Project Gutenberg

And it must have been; every morning for eighty-nine days the gaudy music box faithfully played the tune over and over again.

From Project Gutenberg

For about a minute the music-box plays intermittent airs behind the curtain, as if it was turned by some hand.

From Project Gutenberg

The music-box, which has one of these handles, plays at the same time behind the curtain in perfect synchronism.

From Project Gutenberg