boxing to practise blows and footwork against an imaginary opponent
to act or speak unconvincingly, without saying what one means, etc
he's just shadow-boxing
First recorded in 1905–10
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“They were beautiful and funny and fascinating,” Saar says of Cornell’s shadow box assemblages, many of which were made of repurposed junk.
From New York Times • May 8, 2024
Around that time, current Saints tight end Foster Moreau was playing for Jesuit High School in New Orleans and had a signed No. 80 Graham Saints jersey in a shadow box in his room.
From Seattle Times • Jul. 29, 2023
All the while, Ryder continued to shadow box and wait patiently.
From BBC • May 7, 2023
The shop now displays Edwards’s neatly folded navy-blue work uniform, “The Pen Doctor” embroidered on its front, in a shadow box by his repair bench.
From Washington Post • Mar. 14, 2023
A prominent aid to my artistic whims came to me by way of my father's love and craftsmanship; he spent hours of his spare time constructing a shadow box for miniature arrangements.
From Through these Eyes The courageous struggle to find meaning in a life stressed with cancer by Isaacson, Lauren Ann
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
