pillbox

American  

[pil-boks] / ˈpɪlˌbɒks /

noun

1. a box, usually shallow and often round, for holding pills.

2. a small, low structure of reinforced concrete, enclosing machine guns, and employed as a minor fortress in warfare.

3. a small, round, brimless hat with straight sides and a flat top, worn especially by women.

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pillbox British  

/ ˈpɪlˌbɒks /

noun

1. a box for pills

2. a small enclosed fortified emplacement, usually made of reinforced concrete

3. a small round hat, now worn esp by women

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Etymology

Origin of pillbox

First recorded in 1720–30; pill ¹ + box ¹

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pillbox

Apparently nostalgic for the Champagne, pillbox hats and soft-lit glamour that supposedly characterized the skies in the 1950s and ’60s, U.S.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2025

"I have been coming to Norfolk since I was little and there's been a pillbox on East Runton beach and at Salthouse that I've been fascinated with," said Gemma Clarke, 41, from Coalville, Leicestershire.

From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2024

Niels Thomas, of National Coastwatch Institution Cromer, said: "The recent stormy seas have effectively jet-washed the pillbox and removed the sand."

From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2023

Bob Dylan once mockingly sang that a leopard-skin pillbox hat “balances on your head just like a mattress balances on a bottle of wine.”

From Washington Post ● Sep. 26, 2022

She always dressed impeccably for her duties as hostess, in a pillbox hat, tweed suit, and beige gloves: taking coffee from her sure hand he’d found pleasurable.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

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