box
- noun
- /bɑks/
- To enhance the privacy of the backyard, we planted several box shrubs along the fence.
Examples
-
There are some shoe boxes in there.
-
It's in the basement, in a blue box.
-
The same day he bought the car, he also rented a safe-deposit box.
-
I got Paydays and I got a box of Baby Ruths.
-
But no creature in Australia or on Earth compares with the box jellyfish, which Australians call the marine stinger.
Academic text (2011) -
Next to him, surrounded by rare Kingsville dwarf box, stood Heinz Warneke's statue of the Prodigal Son.
Fiction book (1990) -
The box shrub in my garden creates a lovely green hedge that defines the pathway.
-
The landscape architect selected box trees for the topiary designs in the park.
Synonyms
An evergreen shrub or small tree with small glossy leaves often grown as a hedge
An evergreen shrub or small tree with dense leaves used for hedges
An evergreen shrub or small tree gardeners use for hedges and neat garden shapes
A small evergreen bush with dense leaves often used for hedges and garden shapes
A slow-growing evergreen bush or small tree used for hedges and neat shapes
A group of evergreen shrubs and small trees called boxwoods
Idioms
- Offensive
A person who is not very quick to understand things
Compounds
- Specialized
A device on an airplane that records flight information and pilot voices
A raised area in a courtroom where the people who decide the case sit during a trial
- Literature
An area in a stadium or arena where reporters and broadcasters sit to report the game
- Specialized
A system whose inner parts are hidden so you only see what goes in and what comes out
- UK
An enclosed area in a courtroom where a person sits to tell the judge or jury what they saw
- Archaic
A surprising thing that seems to come by luck, not skill, like a small toy in a snack box
- US
A North American land turtle with a high shell that can close tightly to protect itself
- Archaic
A gift you give at Christmas to people who do a job for you, like a milkman or postman
- US
A North American fast-growing maple tree with leaves made of several parts, often used for shade
- UK
A small building where people control railway signals and switches to direct trains
A box-shaped instrument with bellows that you press to make music, like an accordion
- Archaic
A simple camera in the shape of a box with a fixed focus lens and few controls
- Formal
A locked box used to carry and keep important government papers like speeches
- Specialized
A tool that guides a saw to make cuts at exact angles in wood for picture frames
How Big
Surface Forms
Etymology
Box for the shrub comes straight from Latin buxus, the old name for the boxwood tree, and gardeners call the small evergreen a 'box' because it is the very tree used for making boxes.