box
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɒks/
enpr: bäks
ipa: /bɑks/
rhymes: -ɒks
Forms: form: boxes
form: boxing
form: boxed
form: boxed
Etymology: Etymology tree
Ancient Greek πῠ́ξος (pŭ́xos)
Ancient Greek -ις (-is)
Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís)bor.
Late Latin buxisbor.
Proto-West Germanic *buhsā
Old English box
Middle English box
English box
From Middle English box (“container, box, cup”), from Old English box (“box, case”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā (“box”) from Late Latin buxis (“box”), Latin pyxis (“small box for medicines or toiletries”), of uncertain origin; compare Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”) and πύξος (púxos, “box tree; boxwood”). Doublet of piseog, pyx, and pyxis.
Cognate with Middle Dutch bosse, busse (“jar; tin; round box”) (modern Dutch bos (“wood, forest”), bus (“container, box; bushing of a wheel”)), Old High German buhsa (Middle High German buhse, bühse, modern German Büchse (“box; can”)), Swedish bössa (“box”).
The humorous plural form boxen is from box + -en, by analogy with oxen.
(motor racing): Used since it is more distinct over the radio compared to pit. Also from German Boxenstopp (“pit stop”).
Senses: examples: text: Scrapbooks that have enduring value in their original form should be individually boxed in custom-fitted boxes.
ref: 1991 August, Karen Motylewski, “Surveying Your Own Institution: What Do You Need to Know?”, in What an Institution Can Do to Survey Its Own Preservation Needs (Technical Leaflet: General Preservation; 508-470-1010), Andover, Mass.: Northeast Document Conservation Center, →OCLC, section V.D.6 (Scrapbooks and Ephemera), page 21; reprinted in Sherry Byrne, Collection Maintenance and Improvement (Preservation Planning Program), Washington, D.C.: Association of Research Libraries, 1993, →ISBN, page 87:
text: "I best get busy and box up these bones," she said, suddenly anxious to get moving. […] As she started to step around the grave washed out by last night's rainstorm, the sun caught on something caught in the mud.
ref: 2017, B. J. Daniels, “Gun-shy Bride”, in Cold Justice, 2nd Australian paperback edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Harlequin Mills & Boon, →ISBN, chapter 1:
glosses: To place inside a box; to pack in one or more boxes.
examples: text: A large majority of children seem to delight in emotionally boxing in their parents—setting the double-bind trap by giving the parent two choices but determining ahead of time that neither choice will be sufficient for their satisfaction.
ref: 1996, Bill Borcherdt, “The Door Swings Both Ways: When Children Double Bind Their Parents”, in Making Families Work and What to Do when They Don’t: Thirty Guides for Imperfect Parents of Imperfect Children (Haworth Marriage and the Family), New York, N.Y.: The Haworth Press, →ISBN; republished Binghamton, N.Y.: The Haworth Press, 2007, →ISBN, page 65:
glosses: Usually followed by in: to surround and enclose in a way that restricts movement; to corner, to hem in.
examples: text: Straining eliminates lumps in the paint. If the paint has separated, stir the thick paint up from the bottom of each can to free as many lumps as possible. Then box the paint, pouring it all together through a nylon paint strainer and into the bucket. Paint less than one year old usually doesn't require straining. Older paint might have a thick skin on the top; remove the skin and set it aside. Box the paint, pouring it through a nylon paint strainer into the bucket.
ref: 2004, Brian Santos, “Painting Like a Pro”, in Painting Secrets from Brian Santos, the Wall Wizard, Des Moines, Iowa: Meredith Books, →ISBN, page 95:
glosses: To mix two containers of paint of similar colour to ensure that the color is identical.
examples: text: The early settlers either boxed the tree or cut large slanting gashes, from the lower end of which a rudely fashioned spout conducted the sap to a bucket. This method was very destructive to the tree, and boring was substituted for it.
ref: 1918 April, F. L. B., “The Maple Sugar Industry”, in Forest Leaves, volume XVI, number 8 (number 184 overall), Philadelphia, Pa.: Pennsylvania Forestry Association, →OCLC, page 115, column 2:
topics: agriculture
business
lifestyle
glosses: To make an incision or hole in (a tree) for the purpose of procuring the sap.
examples: text: As early as the 1850s, prisons were being made "safer" by boxing in water pipes and enclosing galleries with netting to prevent jumping.
ref: 2013, Ronald V[ictor] Clarke, David Lester, “Introduction to the Transaction Edition”, in Suicide: Closing the Exits, New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, →ISBN, page ix:
topics: architecture
glosses: To enclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to conceal (for example, pipes) or to bring to a required form.
examples: text: [T]he death of the said deceased Daniel Docherty, while in the defender's employment as an engineman, […] is alleged to have been owing to the engine house, which contained the engine of which the deceased had charge, being of a dangerous and improper construction, and the fly-wheel not having been boxed in or covered: […]
ref: 1862 February 25, Archibald Alison (judge), “Sarah Hamil, or Docherty, relict of the deceased Daniel Docherty, Agnes Docherty, and Sarah Docherty, residing with her, his daughters and only children, v. James Alexander, Glasgow, Calenderer, defender”, in The Scottish Law Magazine and Sheriff Court Reporter, volume I (New Series), Glasgow: Thomas Murray & Son, […]; Edinburgh: Maclachlan and Stewart, published December 1862, →OCLC, page 41, column 1:
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: To furnish (for example, the axle of a wheel) with a box.
topics: arts
graphic-design
media
printing
publishing
glosses: To enclose (images, text, etc.) in a box.
qualifier: object-oriented programming
glosses: To place a value of a primitive type into a casing object.
examples: text: “Okay Lewis, so box this lap, box, box”
ref: 2020 February 7, Greg Stuart, “A beginner’s guide to… F1 slang”, in F1:
topics: hobbies
lifestyle
motor-racing
racing
sports
glosses: To enter the pit.
Synonyms: sense: to place inside a box
word: box up
sense: to place inside a box
word: case
sense: to place inside a box
word: embox
sense: to place inside a box
word: encase
sense: to place inside a box
word: pack
sense: to place inside a box
word: pack up
sense: to place inside a box
word: package
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: abox
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: autobox
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: autoboxing
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: beat-boxing
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: beat boxing
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: boxable
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: boxed
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: boxer
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: box-haul
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: boxhaul
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: box-hauling
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: box in
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: boxing
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: boxing day
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: boxing week
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: box up
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: misbox
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: rebox
sense: Terms derived from box (verb, etymology 1)
word: unbox
Related terms: sense: Terms related to box (verb, etymology 1)
word: box about
sense: Terms related to box (verb, etymology 1)
word: box in
sense: Terms related to box (verb, etymology 1)
word: Boxing Day
sense: Terms related to box (verb, etymology 1)
word: box off
sense: Terms related to box (verb, etymology 1)
word: box out
sense: Terms related to box (verb, etymology 1)
word: box the compass
sense: Terms related to box (verb, etymology 1)
word: box up