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
All the while, Ryder continued to shadow box and wait patiently.
From BBC • May 7, 2023
"It's right up there," Rojas told us, "encased in the beautiful shadow box."
From Salon • Mar. 11, 2023
The photos sit in a sort of shadow box with the glass covering looking almost as if it has been pressed outward and fractured.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 18, 2022
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.
