snuffbox

American  

[snuhf-boks] / ˈsnʌfˌbɒks /

noun

1. a box for holding snuff, especially one small enough to be carried in the pocket.

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snuffbox British  

/ ˈsnʌfˌbɒks /

noun

1. a container, often of elaborate ornamental design, for holding small quantities of snuff

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Etymology

Origin of snuffbox

First recorded in 1680–90; snuff ¹ + box ¹

Example Sentences

Viewers will see The Queen Consort present a rare snuffbox from the Royal Collection made from Cornish silver, and a copy of Elegy in A Country Churchyard by poet Thomas Gray.

From BBC

Thomas Jefferson and two other ministers to France were also given snuffboxes.

From Washington Post

She left a few things inside the hole: a precious box of matches, some glass beads that had come off Aunt Shuvai’s bracelet, some of the copper wire Uncle Kufa used to decorate his snuffboxes.

From Literature

Aristocratic diplomats and businessmen competed by exchanging elaborately decorated snuffboxes, often of painted porcelain, sometimes of gold.

From Salon

In the books, this is the rather difficult art of changing one thing into another — a mouse into a snuffbox or a hedgehog into a pincushion.

From New York Times