box
/bɑks/noun, verb
box is spelled B-O-X: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 110 times per million words in written English, the 972nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, box means “A cuboid space; a cuboid container, often with a hinged lid” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of box is boxes or δ-boxes; Wiktionary also lists boxen (humorous).
How many letters and syllables are in box?
| Letters | 3: B-O-X |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 110 times per million words; the 972nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is box?
Box appears 110 times per million words in written English, the 972nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce box?
- UK /bɒks/
- US /bɑks/
Box has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-box.wav, En-us-box.ogg, EN-AU_ck1_box.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with box
Also written: letter-box.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with box?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as box from its last stressed vowel (/ɑks/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of box
- boxes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- boxing participle, present
- boxed participle, past
- δ-boxes plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does box mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A cuboid space; a cuboid container, often with a hinged lid.
- 2
A cuboid container and its contents; as much as fills such a container.
a box of books
- 3
A compartment (as a drawer) of an item of furniture used for storage, such as a cupboard, a shelf, etc.
- 4
A compartment or receptacle for receiving items.
post box post office box
- 5
A numbered receptacle at a newspaper office for anonymous replies to advertisements; see also box number.
- 6
A compartment to sit inside in an auditorium, courtroom, theatre, or other building.
- 7
The driver’s seat on a horse-drawn coach.
- 8
A small rectangular shelter.
sentry-box
- 9
Any of various evergreen shrubs or trees of genus Buxus, especially common box, European box, or boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) which is often used for making hedges and topiary.
- 10
The wood from a box tree: boxwood.
- 11
slangA musical instrument, especially one made from boxwood.
- 12
AustraliaAn evergreen tree of the genus Lophostemon (for example, box scrub, Brisbane box, brush box, pink box, or Queensland box, Lophostemon confertus).
- 13
AustraliaVarious species of Eucalyptus trees are popularly called various kinds of boxes, on the basis of the nature of their wood, bark, or appearance for example, drooping box (Eucalyptus bicolor), shiny-leaved box (Eucalyptus tereticornis), black box, or ironbark box trees.
- 14
A blow with the fist.
- 15
datedA Mediterranean food fish of the genus Boops, which is a variety of sea bream; a bogue or oxeye.
verb
- 1
To place inside a box; to pack in one or more boxes.
- 2
Usually followed by in: to surround and enclose in a way that restricts movement; to corner, to hem in.
- 3
To mix two containers of paint of similar colour to ensure that the color is identical.
- 4
To make an incision or hole in (a tree) for the purpose of procuring the sap.
- 5
To enclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to conceal (for example, pipes) or to bring to a required form.
- 6
To furnish (for example, the axle of a wheel) with a box.
- 7
To enclose (images, text, etc.) in a box.
- 8
To place a value of a primitive type into a casing object.
- 9
To strike with the fists; to punch.
to box someone’s ears
- 10
To fight against (a person) in a boxing match.
- 11
To participate in boxing; to be a boxer.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate box?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of box: bx.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Box in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | boîte, caisse , case , loge , emboîter, mettre en boîte |
| German | Kasten, Kiste, Box, Karton , Loge , Dose |
| Portuguese | caixa , camarote , encaixotar , boceta , cubículo , tevê |
| Spanish | caja , cajón , palco, luneta , encajonar , garita |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does box come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).