Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
BOX
box
(noun) a blow with the hand (usually on the ear); “I gave him a good box on the ear”
box
(noun) a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid; “he rummaged through a box of spare parts”
box
(noun) separate partitioned area in a public place for a few people; “the sentry stayed in his box to avoid the cold”
box, loge
(noun) private area in a theater or grandstand where a small group can watch the performance; “the royal box was empty”
box, box seat
(noun) the driver’s seat on a coach; “an armed guard sat in the box with the driver”
box
(noun) any one of several designated areas on a ball field where the batter or catcher or coaches are positioned; “the umpire warned the batter to stay in the batter’s box”
box, boxwood
(noun) evergreen shrubs or small trees
box, boxful
(noun) the quantity contained in a box; “he gave her a box of chocolates”
box
(noun) a rectangular drawing; “the flowchart contained many boxes”
corner, box
(noun) a predicament from which a skillful or graceful escape is impossible; “his lying got him into a tight corner”
box
(verb) engage in a boxing match
box
(verb) hit with the fist; “I’ll box your ears!”
box, package
(verb) put into a box; “box the gift, please”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Proper noun
Box
A surname.
A village in Minchinhampton parish, south of Stroud, Gloucestershire, England (OS grid ref SO8600).
A village near Corsham, Wiltshire, England (OS grid ref ST8268).
Etymology 1
Noun
box (plural boxes or boxen) (computing)
Senses relating to a three-dimensional object or space.
A cuboid space; a cuboid container, often with a hinged lid.
A cuboid container and its contents; as much as fills such a container.
A compartment (as a drawer) of an item of furniture used for storage, such as a cupboard, a shelf, etc.
A compartment or receptacle for receiving items.
A numbered receptacle at a newspaper office for anonymous replies to advertisements.
A compartment to sit inside in an auditorium, courtroom, theatre, or other building.
The driver's seat on a horse-drawn coach.
A small rectangular shelter; a booth.
Short for horsebox.
(rail) Short for signal box.
(figuratively) A predicament or trap.
(slang) A prison cell.
(slang) A cell used for solitary confinement.
Synonym: hole
(euphemistic) A coffin.
(slang) Preceded by the: television.
(slang, vulgar) The vagina.
(computing, slang) A computer, or the case in which it is housed.
(cricket) A hard protector for the genitals worn inside the underpants by a batsman or close fielder.
(engineering) A cylindrical casing around the axle of a wheel, a bearing, a gland, etc.
(fencing) A device used in electric fencing to detect whether a weapon has struck an opponent, which connects to a fencer's weapon by a spool and body wire. It uses lights and sound to notify a hit, with different coloured lights for on target and off target hits.
(dated) A small country house.
Senses relating to a two-dimensional object or space
A rectangle: an oblong or a square.
(baseball) The rectangle in which the batter stands.
(genetics) One of two specific regions in a promoter.
(juggling) A pattern usually performed with three balls where the movements of the balls make a boxlike shape.
(lacrosse, informal) Short for box lacrosse.
(soccer) The penalty area.
Usage notes
• (computing): the humorous plural form boxen is occasionally used.
Synonyms
• (container): case, package
• (as much as fills a box): boxful
• (compartment to sit inside): loge
• (driver's seat on a coach): box seat
• (small rectangular shelter): shelter
• ((slang) television): telly (Britain), tube, TV
• ((slang, vulgar) vagina): see vagina
• ((computing, slang) computer): computer, machine
• (protector for the genitals): cup (US)
• (input field on an electronic display): text box
Hyponyms
(Hyponyms of box (noun, etymology 1)):
• airbox
• apple-box
• ballot box
• bandbox
• bento box
• bitty box
• black box
• blue box
• brain box
• CAAT box
• cable box
• call box
• cambox
• cardboard box
• cashbox
• check box
• Chinese boxes
• Christmas box
• cigar box
• collecting box
• combo box
• coolbox
• dialog box
• dogbox
• drink box
• dropbox
• embox
• firebox
• fishing box
• front box
• fusebox
• fuzz box
• gate box
• GC box
• gearbox
• glory box
• glove box
• Goldberg-Hogness box
• grass box
• hatbox
• haybox
• hellbox
• Hogness box
• homeobox
• homoeobox
• horse box
• horsebox
• hot box
• hotbox
• hunting box
• icebox
• idiot box
• inbox
• jewel box
• journal box
• juice box
• jump box
• jury box
• letterbox
• light box
• list box
• lockbox
• loose box
• loosebox
• love box
• lunch box
• magic box
• marmalade box
• matchbox
• miter box
• mitre box
• money box
• mud box
• musical box
• nest box, nesting box
• omnibus box
• outbox
• packing box
• paint box
• pay box
• peg-box
• pegbox
• penalty box
• pepperbox
• phone box
• pillar box
• pillbox
• playbox
• PO box
• police box
• poor box
• postbox
• power box
• presentation box
• press box
• property box
• puff box
• rattlebox
• safe-deposit box
• safety-deposit box
• saltbox
• sandbox
• saucebox
• search box
• seatbox
• seedbox
• sentry box
• set-top box
• shoebox
• shooting box
• side box
• signal box
• six-yard box
• Skinner box
• skybox
• slushbox
• smokebox
• snow box
• snuffbox
• soapbox
• sound box
• spitbox
• spurious box
• squawk box
• squawkbox
• squeezebox
• stage box
• strongbox
• stuffing box
• suggestion box
• swear box
• sweatbox
• swell box
• telephone box
• text box
• tick box
• tinder box
• toolbox
• tuck box
• tumbling box
• upper box
• vanity box
• versing box
• wagon box
• wine box
• witness box
• workbox
• yogibogeybox
Verb
box (third-person singular simple present boxes, present participle boxing, simple past and past participle boxed)
(transitive) To place inside a box; to pack in one or more boxes.
(transitive) Usually followed by in: to surround and enclose in a way that restricts movement; to corner, to hem in.
(transitive) To mix two containers of paint of similar colour to ensure that the color is identical.
(transitive, agriculture) To make an incision or hole in (a tree) for the purpose of procuring the sap.
(transitive, architecture) To enclose with boarding, lathing, etc, so as to conceal (for example, pipes) or to bring to a required form.
(transitive, engineering) To furnish (for example, the axle of a wheel) with a box.
(transitive, graphic design, printing) To enclose (images, text, etc.) in a box.
(transitive, object-oriented programming) To place a value of a primitive type into a corresponding object.
Synonyms
• (to place inside a box): box up, case, embox, encase, pack, pack up, package
Antonyms
• (place inside a box): unbox, uncase, unpack
Etymology 2
Noun
box (plural boxes)
Any of various evergreen shrubs or trees of the genus Buxus, especially the common box, European box, or boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) which is often used for making hedges and topiary.
The wood from a box tree: boxwood.
(musical instrument, slang) A musical instrument, especially one made from boxwood.
(Australia) An evergreen tree of the genus Lophostemon (for example, the box scrub, Brisbane box, brush box, pink box, or Queensland box, Lophostemon confertus).
(Australia) Various species of Eucalyptus trees are popularly called various kinds of boxes, on the basis of the nature of their wood, bark, or appearance for example, the drooping (Eucalyptus bicolor), shiny-leaved (Eucalyptus tereticornis), black, or ironbark box trees.
Etymology 3
Noun
box (plural boxes)
A blow with the fist.
Synonyms
• blow
• cuff
• punch
Verb
box (third-person singular simple present boxes, present participle boxing, simple past and past participle boxed)
(transitive) To strike with the fists; to punch.
(transitive, boxing) To fight against (a person) in a boxing match.
(intransitive, boxing) To participate in boxing; to be a boxer.
Etymology 4
Noun
box (plural boxes)
(dated) A Mediterranean food fish of the genus Boops, which is a variety of sea bream; a bogue or oxeye.
Source: Wiktionary
Box, n. Etym: [As. box, L. buxus, fr. Gr. Box a case.] (Bot.)
Definition: A tree or shrub, flourishing in different parts of the world. The common box (Buxus sempervirens) has two varieties, one of which, the dwaft box (B.suffruticosa), is much used for borders in gardens. The wood of the tree varieties, being very hard and smooth, is extensively used in the arts, as by turners, engravers, mathematical instrument makers, etc. Box elder, the ash-leaved maple (Negundo aceroides), of North America.
– Box holly, the butcher's broom (Russus aculeatus).
– Box thorn, a shrub (Lycium barbarum).
– Box tree, the tree variety of the common box.
Box, n.; pl. Boxes ( Etym: [As. box a small case or vessel with a cover; akin to OHG. buhsa box, G. bĂĽchse; fr. L. buxus boxwood, anything made of boxwood. See Pyx, and cf. Box a tree, Bushel.]
1. A receptacle or case of any firm material and of various shapes.
2. The quantity that a box contain.
3. A space with a few seats partitioned off in a theater, or other place of public amusement. Laughed at by the pit, box, galleries, nay, stage. Dorset. The boxes and the pit are sovereign judges. Dryden.
4. A chest or any receptacle for the deposit of money; as, a poor box; a contribution box. Yet since his neighbors give, the churl unlocks, Damning the poor, his tripple-bolted box. J. Warton.
5. A small country house. "A shooting box." Wilson. Tight boxes neatly sashed. Cowper.
6. A boxlike shed for shelter; as, a sentry box.
7. (Mach) (a) An axle box, journal box, journal bearing, or bushing. (b) A chamber or section of tube in which a valve works; the bucket of a lifting pump.
8. The driver's seat on a carriage or coach.
9. A present in a box; a present; esp. a Christmas box or gift. "A Christmas box." Dickens.
10. (Baseball)
Definition: The square in which the pitcher stands.
11. (Zoöl.)
Definition: A Mediterranean food fish; the bogue.
Note: Box is much used adjectively or in composition; as box lid, box maker, box circle, etc.; also with modifying substantives; as money box, letter box, bandbox, hatbox or hat box, snuff box or snuffbox. Box beam (Arch.), a beam made of metal plates so as to have the form of a long box.
– Box car (Railroads), a freight car covered with a roof and inclosed on the sides to protect its contents.
– Box chronometer, a ship's chronometer, mounted in gimbals, to preserve its proper position.
– Box coat, a thick overcoat for driving; sometimes with a heavy cape to carry off the rain.
– Box coupling, a metal collar uniting the ends of shafts or other parts in machinery.
– Box crab (Zoöl.), a crab of the genus Calappa, which, when at rest with the legs retracted, resembles a box.
– Box drain (Arch.), a drain constructed with upright sides, and with flat top and bottom.
– Box girder (Arch.), a box beam.
– Box groove (Metal Working), a closed groove between two rolls, formed by a collar on one roll fitting between collars on another. R. W. Raymond.
– Box metal, an alloy of copper and tin, or of zinc, lead, and antimony, for the bearings of journals, etc.
– Box plait, a plait that doubles both to the rigth and the left.
– Box turtle or Box tortoise (Zoöl.), a land tortoise or turtle of the genera Cistudo and Emys; -- so named because it can withdraw entirely within its shell, which can be closed by hinged joints in the lower shell. Also, humorously, an exceedingly reticent person. Emerson.
– In a box, in a perplexity or an embarrassing position; in difficulty. (Colloq.) -- In the wrong box, out of one's place; out of one's element; awkwardly situated. (Colloq.) Ridley (1554)
Box, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Boxed (p. pr. & vb. n. Boxing.]
1. To inclose in a box.
2. To furnish with boxes, as a wheel.
3. (Arch.)
Definition: To inclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to bring to a required form. To box a tree, to make an incision or hole in a tree for the purpose of procuring the sap.
– To box off, to divide into tight compartments.
– To box up. (a) To put into a box in order to save; as, he had boxed up twelve score pounds. (b) To confine; as, to be boxed up in narrow quarters.
Box, n. Etym: [Cf.Dan. baske to slap, bask slap, blow. Cf. Pash.]
Definition: A blow on the head or ear with the hand. A good-humored box on the ear. W. Irving.
Box, v. i.
Definition: To fight with the fist; to combat with, or as with, the hand or fist; to spar.
Box, v. t.
Definition: To strike with the hand or fist, especially to strike on the ear, or on the side of the head.
Box, v. t. Etym: [Cf.Sp. boxar, now spelt bojar.]
Definition: To boxhaul. To box off (Naut.), to turn the head of a vessel either way by bracing the headyards aback.
– To box the compass (Naut.), to name the thirty-two points of the compass in their order.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Word of the Day
17 November 2024
MONASTICISM
(noun) asceticism as a form of religious life; usually conducted in a community under a common rule and characterized by celibacy and poverty and obedience
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