shadowbox
Americanverb (used without object)
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to make the motions of attack and defense, as in boxing, as a training or conditioning procedure.
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to evade or avoid direct or decisive action.
Etymology
Origin of shadowbox
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He’s up at 6 a.m. in the summers to shadowbox in the garage, working out two or three times a day.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2022
The company assigns a floral design consultant to each keepsake order, who will bring the arrangement to life in a frame, shadowbox, lantern, tabletop cube, dome, pedestal, cloche, trinket box, ornament or potpourri jar.
From Fox News ● Feb. 1, 2022
Chalfant, who lived for 20 years at the corner of West Fourth Street and West 11th Street in the Village, read a Robert Pinsky poem titled “Shirt” for her shadowbox segment.
From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2021
Knowing that Mr. Belmondo liked to shadowbox in character, Godard filmed him boxing in front of a mirror as he experimented with his lines: “I’m not much of a looker, but I’m quite a boxer.”
From Washington Post ● Sep. 6, 2021
A tall heavyweight a little soft around the middle, stood up and began to shadowbox.
From "The Contender" by Robert Lipsyte
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.
