poor box
2
5.5
- noun
:
caja de limosna
- The poor box is in the front.
Examples
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That's the poor box!
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How nice to be remembered that way, Annabel thought as she retraced her steps to the front entrance, pausing to drop coins into a poor box.
Fiction book (1990) -
During the Sunday service, many parishioners contribute to the poor box to help those in need.
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Every week, the church collects donations from the poor box to support local charities.
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Margaret emptied the poor box on Saturday to count how much money had been raised for the homeless.
Synonyms
A box in a church where people put money for the poor
A box in a church for collecting small donations for charity
A box for collecting donations in a church or public place
How Secure
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a box for collecting money for the poor' is directly and compositionaly derived from 'poor' (the needy) + 'box' (a container); the structure 'X box' plainly signals a container associated with X. This is a common, cross-linguistic pattern (e.g. alms box / caja de limosnas) and a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The noun poor box names the small wooden box often kept in a church with a sign for the poor. People drop coins and notes into it to help those in need, so the phrase means 'a box for collecting money for the poor'.