musical box
- noun
- /ˈmjuːzɪkəl bɑːks/
:
caja musical
- She decorated her room with a charming musical box that spins as it plays.
Examples
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A papier-mache musical box in the shape of a barrel organ.
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If you remember that little box I did before the musical box, that sounded lovely because the barrel itself was metal and the comb was metal.
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The child wound up the musical box and listened to the sweet melody it played.
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Every night, he would play his favorite lullaby from the musical box on his bedside table.
Synonyms
23
3.1
A small box that plays a tune when you wind it
How Complex
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is transparently built from 'musical' (related to music) + 'box' (a container), so its meaning — a box that produces or is associated with music — is directly inferable from the parts. This adjective+noun composition is a standard, cross-linguistically common pattern, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
Musical box: The noun musical box names a small box that makes music. Inside is a tiny machine: when you wind it, little pins on a turning drum hit thin metal teeth and make a tune. That's why the name means a small box that 'plays music'.