saltbox
noun
saltbox is a noun meaning “A box for keeping salt in” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled S-A-L-T-B-O-X and has 2 syllables, and it appears about once in every 28 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of saltbox is saltboxes.
What does saltbox mean?
noun
- 1
A box for keeping salt in.
- 2
A similar box formerly used as a percussion instrument in burlesque music.
- 3
USA distinctively shaped wooden-frame house with two stories at the front and one behind, characteristic of New England.
- 4
A roof where one side slopes farther down than the other.
- 5
UKslangThe cell in Newgate prison for a prisoner condemned to death.
“I think I'd rather languish in the Salt Box at Newgate Prison wearing the Devil's Claws than to be married to that tree,” Kierney said.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce saltbox?
- US
Saltbox has 2 syllables (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)-Flame,_not_lame-saltbox.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of saltbox
- saltboxes plural
- salt-box
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is saltbox?
Saltbox appears about once in every 28 million words in written English, the 161,690th 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).
Where does saltbox come from?
From salt + box.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).