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jukebox

jukebox

62 4.7
A music player in public places that plays songs when you put in a coin
  • noun
  • /ˈdʒuːkˌboʊks/
translation icon : jukebox
  • He slipped a coin into the jukebox, eager to hear his chosen song fill the room.

Examples

  • The sock-hop experience included a video highlighting 20th-century youth music, costumes, a jukebox, and even Coke floats.

    Academic text (2013)
  • On Thursday evenings, pop tunes vibrated from the jukebox during mat (for matinee) dances.

    Academic text (2007)
  • l actually remember the song playing on the jukebox... the night that we met.

  • "Go see if you can find a Christmas song on the jukebox," I told the children.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Would you like a quarter for the jukebox?

  • If we're going to use this song the jukebox just played, we'd better get moving.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Eugene bent over the jukebox and ran his index finger down the song list.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • There was a jukebox, a genuine one, with colored water bubbling along the sides.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Behind them, she heard the jukebox start to belt out a polka version of "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Our diner booths will be equipped with stationary iPads, similar to that jukebox feel of the good old days.

    Academic text (2013)

Synonyms

nickelodeon
vsjukebox
  • Archaic
8 9.8

A machine that plays records when you put in a coin

lets the user choose music from a visible list before it plays

How Old-Fashioned

gramophone
  • Archaic
8 9.2
jukebox
62 4.7
record player
18 3.0
CD player
42 1.5
streaming
  • Texting
3.2

Surface Forms

jukebox singular
jukeboxes plural

Morphology

jukebox = juke + box (semi-transparent) = juke + box

The compound structure 'juke' + 'box' is clear, but the element 'juke' is dialectal/informal and unfamiliar to many learners, so the overall meaning is not fully derivable from common vocabulary.

Etymology

The word jukebox comes from juke, an old African American word meaning 'to dance' or 'be lively', and box, meaning a small container or machine. So a jukebox is like a 'dance box': you put a coin in it and it plays songs people choose to dance to.