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.

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of pillbox

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pillbox

The cliff East Runton's pillbox once perched on collapsed years ago, as a result of coastal erosion.

From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2023

He advised people not to attempt to go inside the pillbox "for safety reasons, especially not when the tide's coming in".

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

I rifle through the bag that usually goes into my bag — i.e., the makeup pouch I typically throw in a tote — and fish out the essentials: my pillbox, my Chapstick, my house keys.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2022

A cement and brick pillbox had been built down by the river, right on the bend, among the sedges, destroying the nests of the teal and the gray wagtails.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

Related Words

• beret