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Glite Dictionary
telephone box

telephone box

1 3.0
A small box on a street that holds a public phone
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛlɪfəʊn bɒks/
  • Archaic
translation icon : cabina telefónica
  • When she needed to make an urgent call, she rushed to the nearest telephone box to find a working line.
  • a red telephone box

Examples

  • Before the taxi came to a stop, James opened the door when he saw a telephone box on a corner under a streetlamp.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • That means the humble black cab, as much a part of the London landscape as red telephone boxes and the Tube map, could disappear from the roads of the British capital.

    Blog text (14)

  • I need you to find a telephone box.

    See How They Run (2022)

  • I put my hands on the top of the telephone box.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • If I had any parents, I would go to a telephone box and ring them and tell them I am scared.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • Back in the taxi, he asked the driver to find a telephone box.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Back in the village, they now have a telephone box a few kilometers away.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • There's a telephone box over there and the line may be open.

    Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)

  • I pointed back towards the butter cross, where the red telephone box stood out like a beacon among the stone buildings.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • He would creep out of the house and head straight for the telephone box in the village... but the cold voice was speaking again, and Frank remained where he was, frozen to the spot, listening with all his might.

    Fiction book (2000)

Synonyms

phone booth
vstelephone box
  • Archaic
42 1.5

A small enclosed space with a public phone for private calls

is the broader public street structure without focusing on privacy
telephone booth
vstelephone box
  • Archaic
4 2.3

A small enclosed space in a public place with a phone for people to use

is the general name for this small public telephone structure
telephone kiosk
vstelephone box
  • Archaic
4.4

A small booth with a telephone that people use

is the neutral general term rather than emphasizing building form
call box
vstelephone box
  • US
2.8

A public booth with a phone for making calls

is the common street or public place structure not limited to roads

How Enclosed

telephone box
  • Archaic
1 3.0
phone booth
  • Archaic
42 1.5
telephone kiosk
  • Archaic
4.4

Surface Forms

telephone box singular
telephone boxes plural

Morphology

telephone + box

The meaning is directly compositional: 'telephone' (a device for voice communication) plus 'box' (a container) yields an enclosed structure that contains a public telephone. This noun–noun compound follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern (phone booth/box) and would be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

Telephone box is a simple compound name for a small box on the street that held a public telephone; imagine a little shelter you stepped into to make a call and stay dry. That's why it means 'a small enclosed structure with a public telephone'.