Box vs. Carton

Boxnoun

Senses relating to a three-dimensional object or space.

Cartonnoun

An inexpensive, disposable box-like container fashioned from either paper, paper with wax-covering (wax paper), or other lightweight material.

‘a carton of milk’;

Boxnoun

A cuboid space; a cuboid container, often with a hinged lid.

Cartonnoun

A pack of cigarettes, usually ten, wrapped in cellophane or packed in a light cardboard box.

Boxnoun

A cuboid container and its contents; as much as fills such a container.

‘a box of books’;

Cartonnoun

(archaic) A kind of thin pasteboard.

Boxnoun

A compartment (as a drawer) of an item of furniture used for storage, such as a cupboard, a shelf, etc.

Cartonnoun

(archaic) A small disc within the bullseye of a target.

Boxnoun

A compartment or receptacle for receiving items.

‘post box’; ‘post office box’;

Cartonnoun

(archaic) A shot that strikes this disc.

Boxnoun

A compartment to sit inside in an auditorium, courtroom, theatre, or other building.

Cartonverb

To put in a carton.

Boxnoun

The driver's seat on a horse-drawn coach.

Cartonnoun

Pasteboard for paper boxes; also, a pasteboard box.

Boxnoun

A small rectangular shelter; a booth.

Cartonnoun

the quantity contained in a carton

Boxnoun

(figuratively) A predicament or trap.

‘I’m really in a box now.’;

Cartonnoun

a box made of cardboard; opens by flaps on top

Boxnoun

(euphemistic) A coffin.

Cartonnoun

a small, light box or container in which drinks or foodstuffs are packaged

‘a carton of milk’;

Boxnoun

(slang) Preceded by the: television.

Cartonnoun

a large container of goods.

Boxnoun

The vagina.

Carton

A carton is a box or container usually made of liquid packaging board, paperboard and sometimes of corrugated fiberboard. Many types of cartons are used in packaging.

Boxnoun

A computer, or the case in which it is housed.

‘a UNIX box’;

Boxnoun

(cricket) A hard protector for the genitals worn inside the underpants by a batsman or close fielder.

Boxnoun

(engineering) A cylindrical casing around the axle of a wheel, a bearing, a gland, etc.

Boxnoun

(fencing) A device used in electric fencing to detect whether a weapon has struck an opponent, which connects to a fencer's weapon by a spool and body wire. It uses lights and sound to notify a hit, with different coloured lights for on target and off target hits.

Boxnoun

(dated) A small country house.

Boxnoun

Senses relating to a two-dimensional object or space

Boxnoun

A rectangle: an oblong or a square.

‘Place a tick in the box.’; ‘This text would stand out better if we put it in a coloured box.’;

Boxnoun

(baseball) The rectangle in which the batter stands.

Boxnoun

(genetics) One of two specific regions in a promoter.

Boxnoun

(juggling) A pattern usually performed with three balls where the movements of the balls make a boxlike shape.

Boxnoun

(soccer) The penalty area.

Boxnoun

Any of various evergreen shrubs or trees of the genus Buxus, especially the common box, European box, or boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) which is often used for making hedges and topiary.

Boxnoun

The wood from a box tree: boxwood.

Boxnoun

A musical instrument, especially one made from boxwood.

Boxnoun

(Australia) An evergreen tree of the genus Lophostemon (for example, the box scrub, Brisbane box, brush box, pink box, or Queensland box, Lophostemon confertus).

Boxnoun

A blow with the fist.

Boxnoun

(dated) A Mediterranean food fish of the genus Boops, which is a variety of sea bream; a bogue or oxeye.

Boxverb

(transitive) To place inside a box; to pack in one or more boxes.

Boxverb

(transitive) Usually followed by in: to surround and enclose in a way that restricts movement; to corner, to hem in.

Boxverb

(transitive) To mix two containers of paint of similar colour to ensure that the color is identical.

Boxverb

To make an incision or hole in (a tree) for the purpose of procuring the sap.

Boxverb

To enclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to conceal (for example, pipes) or to bring to a required form.

Boxverb

To furnish (for example, the axle of a wheel) with a box.

Boxverb

To enclose (images, text, etc.) in a box.

Boxverb

To place a value of a primitive type into a corresponding object.

Boxverb

(transitive) To strike with the fists; to punch.

‘box someone’s ears’; ‘Leave this place before I box you!’;

Boxverb

To fight against (a person) in a boxing match.

Boxverb

To participate in boxing; to be a boxer.

Boxnoun

A tree or shrub, flourishing in different parts of the world. The common box (Buxus sempervirens) has two varieties, one of which, the dwarf box (Buxus suffruticosa), is much used for borders in gardens. The wood of the tree varieties, being very hard and smooth, is extensively used in the arts, as by turners, engravers, mathematical instrument makers, etc.

Boxnoun

A receptacle or case of any firm material and of various shapes.

Boxnoun

The quantity that a box contain.

Boxnoun

A space with a few seats partitioned off in a theater, or other place of public amusement.

‘Laughed at by the pit, box, galleries, nay, stage.’; ‘The boxes and the pit are sovereign judges.’;

Boxnoun

A chest or any receptacle for the deposit of money; as, a poor box; a contribution box.

‘Yet since his neighbors give, the churl unlocks,Damning the poor, his tripple-bolted box.’;

Boxnoun

A small country house.

‘Tight boxes neatly sashed.’;

Boxnoun

A boxlike shed for shelter; as, a sentry box.

Boxnoun

An axle box, journal box, journal bearing, or bushing.

Boxnoun

The driver's seat on a carriage or coach.

Boxnoun

A present in a box; a present; esp. a Christmas box or gift.

Boxnoun

The square in which the pitcher stands.

Boxnoun

A Mediterranean food fish; the bogue.

Boxnoun

A blow on the head or ear with the hand.

‘A good-humored box on the ear.’;

Boxverb

To inclose in a box.

Boxverb

To furnish with boxes, as a wheel.

Boxverb

To inclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to bring to a required form.

Boxverb

To fight with the fist; to combat with, or as with, the hand or fist; to spar.

Boxverb

To strike with the hand or fist, especially to strike on the ear, or on the side of the head.

Boxverb

To boxhaul.

Boxnoun

a (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid;

‘he rummaged through a box of spare parts’;

Boxnoun

private area in a theater or grandstand where a small group can watch the performance;

‘the royal box was empty’;

Boxnoun

the quantity contained in a box;

‘he gave her a box of chocolates’;

Boxnoun

a predicament from which a skillful or graceful escape is impossible;

‘his lying got him into a tight corner’;

Boxnoun

a rectangular drawing;

‘the flowchart contained many boxes’;

Boxnoun

evergreen shrubs or small trees

Boxnoun

any one of several designated areas on a ball field where the batter or catcher or coaches are positioned;

‘the umpire warned the batter to stay in the batter's box’;

Boxnoun

the driver's seat on a coach;

‘an armed guard sat in the box with the driver’;

Boxnoun

separate partitioned area in a public place for a few people;

‘the sentry stayed in his box to avoid the cold’;

Boxnoun

a blow with the hand (usually on the ear);

‘I gave him a good box on the ear’;

Boxverb

put into a box;

‘box the gift, please’;

Boxverb

hit with the fist;

‘I'll box your ears!’;

Boxverb

engage in a boxing match

Boxnoun

a container with a flat base and sides, typically square or rectangular and having a lid

‘a hat box’; ‘a cigarette box’;

Boxnoun

the contents of a box

‘she ate a whole box of chocolates that night’;

Boxnoun

television or a television set

‘we sat around watching the box’;

Boxnoun

a casing containing a computer

‘the new model is half the cost of an equivalent IBM box’;

Boxnoun

a coffin

‘I always thought I'd be in a box when I finally left here’;

Boxnoun

a coachman's seat.

Boxnoun

an area on a page that is to be filled in or that contains separate printed matter

‘tick the box on the coupon’;

Boxnoun

an area on a computer screen for user input or displaying information

‘a new box appears containing the names of all the programs which are opened’;

Boxnoun

a box junction

‘do not enter the box until your exit is clear’;

Boxnoun

the penalty area

‘he curled in a brilliant second from the edge of the box’;

Boxnoun

the area occupied by the batter

‘ten thousand people booed him when he stepped into the box’;

Boxnoun

a separate section or enclosed area reserved for a group of people in a theatre or sports ground, or for witnesses or the jury in a law court

‘the royal box’;

Boxnoun

a small country house for use when shooting or fishing.

Boxnoun

a protective casing for a piece of a mechanism

‘in the second variation, a switch loop, only one cable enters the box’;

Boxnoun

short for gearbox

Boxnoun

a light shield for protecting a man's genitals in sport, especially in cricket.

Boxnoun

a facility at a newspaper office for receiving replies to an advertisement

‘write to me care of Box 112’;

Boxnoun

a facility at a post office whereby letters are kept until called for by the addressee.

Boxnoun

a woman's vagina.

Boxnoun

a slap with the hand on the side of a person's head

‘she gave him a box on the ear’;

Boxnoun

a slow-growing European evergreen shrub or small tree with small glossy dark green leaves. It is widely used in hedging and for topiary, and yields hard, heavy timber.

Boxnoun

the hard, heavy wood of the box tree, formerly used for engraving and for musical instruments.

Boxnoun

any of a number of trees that have wood or foliage similar to the box tree.

Boxverb

put in or provide with a box

‘the books are sold as a boxed set’; ‘Muriel boxed up all Christopher's clothes’;

Boxverb

enclose (a piece of text) within printed lines

‘boxed sections in magazines’;

Boxverb

restrict the ability of (a person or vehicle) to move freely

‘a van had double-parked alongside her car and totally boxed her in’;

Boxverb

mix up different flocks.

Boxverb

fight an opponent using one's fists; compete in the sport of boxing

‘he had to box Benn for the title’; ‘he boxed for England’;

Boxverb

recite the compass points in correct order.

Boxverb

make a complete change of direction

‘by now the breeze had boxed the compass’;

Box

A box (plural: boxes) is a type of container or rectangular prism used for the storage or transportation of its contents. The size of a box may vary, from the very smallest (such as a matchbox) to the size of a large appliance, and can be used for a variety of purposes ranging from the functional to the decorative.