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 • Mar. 5, 2023

Lithwick: Give us an example, because I think that we understood the snuffbox and the horse.

From Slate • May 2, 2017

The Continental Congress in 1786 had consented, after a debate, to Franklin keeping the snuffbox, as it had earlier with a similar gift to envoy Arthur Lee.

From Salon • Dec. 3, 2016

About 42,997 fish representing 40 species, from black bass to muskellunge, were killed along with 15,382 freshwater mussels, including the rare snuffbox variety, and 6,447 mudpuppies, the complaint states.

From New York Times • Sep. 7, 2011

It was a gesture which, if anyone had still thought in such terms, might have recalled an eighteenth-century nobleman offering his snuffbox.

From "1984" by George Orwell