sandbox

American  

[sand-boks] / ˈsændˌbɒks /

noun

• sandboxes
  plural

1. a box or receptacle for holding sand, especially one large enough for children to play in.

2. Computers. an environment in which software developers or editors can create and test new content, separate from other content in the project (often used attributively).

   sandbox web design;

   New features are tested and critiqued in the demo sandbox.

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adjective

1. Digital Technology. noting or relating to a genre of video game with a nonlinear structure that allows players to roam freely.

sandbox British  

/ ˈsændˌbɒks /

noun

1. a container on a railway locomotive from which sand is released onto the rails to assist the traction

2. a box with sand shaped for moulding metal

3. a container of sand for small children to play in

4. computing a protected environment in which an untrusted program may be run without affecting other parts of the system

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sandboxes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sandbox

First recorded in 1565–75; sand + box ¹

Explanation

Many playgrounds have a sandbox, an area that's full of fine, soft sand for kids to play in. For many children, all they need is a sandbox, a shovel, and a pail to be perfectly happy. In North America, this common plaything is called a sandbox, while in the U.K. you'll hear it called a sandpit. It's not unusual for people with yards and young children to have a sandbox at home, and they're also found on school playgrounds and in public parks. Kids in sandboxes will dig holes, fill toy trucks with sand, mix the sand with water, and (occasionally) throw sand at each other.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sandbox sandboxes

“No one could sit in their silos; we all spent a lot of time in the sandbox together,” he notes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

OpenAI calculates that a new monitoring system it set up after news that its agents left a testing sandbox this summer could add 20% to its compute costs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 27, 2026

Mythos also showed the ability to independently escape what is known as the sandbox environment, setting off a debate among regulators, legislators and businesses about AI's potential dangers.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

If an A.I. model goes beyond the scope of a test or accidentally breaks free of its sandbox, you can’t blame the machine for its tester’s lack of guardrails.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026

She used to bury chicken bone leftovers in her sandbox for digging practice.

From "Crenshaw" by Katherine Applegate

It cited increased precautions with its training sandboxes to prevent agents from breaking out of secure testing systems.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

OpenAI said that its new Astra model was able to compromise web browser sandboxes to run commands on the browser’s computer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

These typically take place in what are known as "sandboxes".

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Traipsing through genres and time periods, these excursions are an opportunity for Bi and his creative team to frolic in various cinematic sandboxes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025

Like most other major universities, Berkeley tended to think of chemists, biologists, physicists, and engineers all as inhabitants of discrete sandboxes.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik