Crate vs. Box — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 26, 2023
A crate is a large shipping container, often made of wood or metal, typically used for transport. A box is a smaller, often cardboard, container primarily for storage or packaging.
Difference Between Crate and Box
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
A crate is a large container often constructed of wood, metal, or plastic. Its primary function is for the transport of heavy or large items. On the other hand, a box is a typically smaller container, usually made of cardboard, paper, plastic, or wood, designed primarily for storage or packaging purposes.
The design and structure of a crate is often more open and might be reinforced to bear heavier weights. A box, while it can be sturdy, is usually fully enclosed and might not have the structural integrity to handle extremely heavy items like a crate would.
Crates are frequently utilized in industrial or agricultural settings for transporting goods in bulk. They are built to withstand rough handling and can be stacked or palletized. In contrast, boxes are more commonly found in everyday households, offices, or retail settings. They can be used for gifts, storing items, or shipping smaller goods.
The aesthetic of a crate is generally more utilitarian, focusing on function over form. Whereas a box, especially those designed for retail or gifts, may have more decorative elements, prints, or designs to appeal visually.
Crates might be reusable, especially in commercial settings, being returned to the sender after goods are delivered. While many boxes, particularly those made of cardboard, might be disposed of after use or recycled, though some, like decorative gift boxes, might be kept and reused.
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Comparison Chart
Material
Typically made of wood, metal, or plastic.
Commonly made of cardboard, paper, plastic, or wood.
Size
Larger and designed for heavier items.
Generally smaller, designed for lighter items.
Usage
Primarily for transport of heavy or bulk items.
Primarily for storage, packaging, or gifting.
Structure
Open design, often reinforced.
Fully enclosed, can be decorative.
Durability & Reuse
Built for rough handling, often reused in commercial use.
Might be disposable, some are kept or recycled.
Compare with Definitions
Crate
A wooden or metal container for transporting large or heavy items.
The factory shipped machinery parts in sturdy crates.
Box
A protective casing or housing.
The electrician installed a new junction box.
Crate
A slatted box used for transporting live animals.
The farmer placed the chickens in a crate to take them to market.
Box
A container designed for holding or presenting gifts.
He wrapped the gift and placed it in a decorative box.
Crate
A storage solution often used for organizing items.
He kept his vinyl collection in wooden crates.
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.
Crate
A durable container used for shipping bulk items.
The warehouse was filled with crates of fresh produce.
Box
A container with a flat base and sides, typically square or rectangular and having a lid
A hat box
A cigarette box
Crate
A container designed for the protection and transport of goods.
The artist's sculptures were carefully packed in crates for the exhibition.
Box
An area on a page that is to be filled in or that contains separate printed matter
Tick the box on the coupon
Crate
A crate is a large shipping container, often made of wood, typically used to transport or store large, heavy items. Steel and aluminium crates are also used.
Box
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
Crate
A container, such as a slatted wooden case, used for storing or shipping.
Box
A protective casing for a piece of a mechanism
In the second variation, a switch loop, only one cable enters the box
Crate
A container, usually of plastic, metal, or wood, used to house or transport an animal.
Box
A facility at a newspaper office for receiving replies to an advertisement
Write to me care of Box 112
Crate
(Slang) An old rickety vehicle, especially a decrepit automobile or aircraft.
Box
A woman's vagina.
Crate
To pack into a container, such as a slatted wooden case.
Box
A slap with the hand on the side of a person's head
She gave him a box on the ear
Crate
To put (an animal) into a crate.
Box
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.
Crate
A large open box or basket, used especially to transport fragile goods.
Box
Any of a number of trees that have wood or foliage similar to the box tree.
Crate
A vehicle (car, aircraft, spacecraft, etc.) seen as unreliable.
Box
Put in or provide with a box
The books are sold as a boxed set
Muriel boxed up all Christopher's clothes
Crate
(programming) In the Rust programming language, a binary or library.
Box
Mix up different flocks.
Crate
(transitive) To put into a crate.
Box
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
Crate
(transitive) To keep in a crate.
Box
Recite the compass points in correct order.
Crate
A large basket or hamper of wickerwork, used for the transportation of china, crockery, and similar wares.
Box
Make a complete change of direction
By now the breeze had boxed the compass
Crate
A box or case whose sides are of wooden slats with interspaces, - used especially for transporting fruit.
Box
A container typically constructed with four sides perpendicular to the base and often having a lid or cover.
Crate
To pack in a crate or case for transportation; as, to crate a sewing machine; to crate peaches.
Box
The amount or quantity that such a container can hold.
Crate
A rugged box (usually made of wood); used for shipping
Box
A square or rectangle
Draw a box around your answer.
Crate
The quantity contained in a crate
Box
A separated compartment in a public place of entertainment, such as a theater or stadium, for the accommodation of a small group.
Crate
Put into a crate; as for protection;
Crate the paintings before shipping them to the museum
Box
An area of a public place, such as a courtroom or stadium, marked off and restricted for use by persons performing a specific function
A jury box.
Box
A small structure serving as a shelter
A sentry box.
Box
Chiefly British A small country house used as a sporting lodge
A shooting box.
Box
A box stall.
Box
The raised seat for the driver of a coach or carriage.
Box
An area on a diamond marked by lines designating where the batter may stand.
Box
Any of various designated areas for other team members, such as the pitcher, catcher, and coaches.
Box
A penalty box.
Box
The penalty area on a soccer field.
Box
(Printing) Featured printed matter enclosed by hairlines, a border, or white space and placed within or between text columns.
Box
A hollow made in the side of a tree for the collection of sap.
Box
A post office box.
Box
An inbox.
Box
An outbox.
Box
An insulating, enclosing, or protective casing or part in a machine.
Box
A signaling device enclosed in a casing
An alarm box.
Box
A cable box.
Box
(Informal) A television.
Box
A very large portable radio.
Box
Chiefly British A gift or gratuity, especially one given at Christmas.
Box
An awkward or perplexing situation; a predicament.
Box
Vulgar Slang The vulva and the vagina.
Box
A slap or blow with the hand or fist
A box on the ear.
Box
Any of several evergreen shrubs or trees of the genus Buxus, especially the Eurasian species B. sempervirens, widely cultivated as a hedge plant and having opposite, leathery, dark green leaves and small whitish flowers.
Box
The hard, light yellow wood of any of these plants, formerly widely used to make musical instruments, inlays, engraving blocks, and measuring instruments. Also called boxwood.
Box
Any of various other shrubs or trees with similar foliage or timber, especially several types of eucalyptus.
Box
To pack in a box.
Box
To confine in or as if in a box.
Box
To border or enclose with or as if with a box
Key sections of the report are boxed off.
Box
To provide a housing or case for (a machine part, for example).
Box
To limit the activity or influence of by or as if by creating a restrictive structure or outlining a territory
The legislature was boxed in by its earlier decisions.
Box
(Sports) To block (a competitor or opponent) from advancing, especially to hinder an opponent from getting a rebound in basketball by placing oneself between the opponent and the basket
Was boxed out by the tallest player on the team.
Was boxed in on the homestretch.
Box
(Nautical) To boxhaul.
Box
To cut a hole in (a tree) for the collection of sap.
Box
To blend (paint) by pouring alternately between two containers.
Box
To change the shape of (a structure, such as a wall) by applying lath and plaster or boarding.
Box
To hit with the hand or fist.
Box
(Sports) To take part in a boxing match with.
Box
To fight with the fists or in a boxing match.
Box
Senses relating to a three-dimensional object or space.
Box
A cuboid space; a cuboid container, often with a hinged lid.
Box
A cuboid container and its contents; as much as fills such a container.
A box of books
Box
A compartment (as a drawer) of an item of furniture used for storage, such as a cupboard, a shelf, etc.
Box
A compartment or receptacle for receiving items.
Post box
Post office box
Box
A compartment to sit inside in an auditorium, courtroom, theatre, or other building.
Box
The driver's seat on a horse-drawn coach.
Box
A small rectangular shelter.
Box
(automotive) gearbox
Box
(rail) signal box
Box
(figuratively) A predicament or trap.
I’m really in a box now.
Box
(slang) A prison cell.
Box
(euphemistic) A coffin.
Box
(slang) Preceded by the: television.
Box
The vagina.
Box
A computer, or the case in which it is housed.
A UNIX box
Box
(slang) A gym dedicated to the CrossFit exercise program.
Box
(cricket) A hard protector for the genitals worn inside the underpants by a batsman or close fielder.
Box
(cricket) gully
Box
(engineering) A cylindrical casing around the axle of a wheel, a bearing, a gland, etc.
Box
(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.
Box
(dated) A small country house.
Box
A stringed instrument with a soundbox, especially a guitar.
Box
Senses relating to a two-dimensional object or space
Box
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.
Box
(baseball) The rectangle in which the batter stands.
Box
(genetics) One of two specific regions in a promoter.
Box
(juggling) A pattern usually performed with three balls where the movements of the balls make a boxlike shape.
Box
(soccer) The penalty area.
Box
(aviation) A diamond-shaped flying formation consisting of four aircraft.
Box
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.
Box
The wood from a box tree: boxwood.
Box
A musical instrument, especially one made from boxwood.
Box
(Australia) An evergreen tree of the genus Lophostemon (for example, box scrub, Brisbane box, brush box, pink box, or Queensland box, Lophostemon confertus).
Box
(Australia) Various 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, the drooping (Eucalyptus bicolor), shiny-leaved (Eucalyptus tereticornis), black, or ironbark box trees.
Box
A blow with the fist.
Box
(dated) A Mediterranean food fish of the genus Boops, which is a variety of sea bream; a bogue or oxeye.
Box
(transitive) To place inside a box; to pack in one or more boxes.
Box
(transitive) Usually followed by in: to surround and enclose in a way that restricts movement; to corner, to hem in.
Box
(transitive) To mix two containers of paint of similar colour to ensure that the color is identical.
Box
To make an incision or hole in (a tree) for the purpose of procuring the sap.
Box
To enclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to conceal (for example, pipes) or to bring to a required form.
Box
To furnish (for example, the axle of a wheel) with a box.
Box
To enclose (images, text, etc.) in a box.
Box
To place a value of a primitive type into a corresponding object.
Box
(transitive) To strike with the fists; to punch.
Box someone’s ears
Leave this place before I box you!
Box
To fight against (a person) in a boxing match.
Box
To participate in boxing; to be a boxer.
Box
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.
Box
A receptacle or case of any firm material and of various shapes.
Box
The quantity that a box contain.
Box
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.
Box
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.
Box
A small country house.
Tight boxes neatly sashed.
Box
A boxlike shed for shelter; as, a sentry box.
Box
An axle box, journal box, journal bearing, or bushing.
Box
The driver's seat on a carriage or coach.
Box
A present in a box; a present; esp. a Christmas box or gift.
Box
The square in which the pitcher stands.
Box
A Mediterranean food fish; the bogue.
Box
A blow on the head or ear with the hand.
A good-humored box on the ear.
Box
To inclose in a box.
Box
To furnish with boxes, as a wheel.
Box
To inclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to bring to a required form.
Box
To fight with the fist; to combat with, or as with, the hand or fist; to spar.
Box
To strike with the hand or fist, especially to strike on the ear, or on the side of the head.
Box
To boxhaul.
Box
A (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid;
He rummaged through a box of spare parts
Box
Private area in a theater or grandstand where a small group can watch the performance;
The royal box was empty
Box
The quantity contained in a box;
He gave her a box of chocolates
Box
A predicament from which a skillful or graceful escape is impossible;
His lying got him into a tight corner
Box
A rectangular drawing;
The flowchart contained many boxes
Box
Evergreen shrubs or small trees
Box
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
Box
The driver's seat on a coach;
An armed guard sat in the box with the driver
Box
Separate partitioned area in a public place for a few people;
The sentry stayed in his box to avoid the cold
Box
A blow with the hand (usually on the ear);
I gave him a good box on the ear
Box
Put into a box;
Box the gift, please
Box
Hit with the fist;
I'll box your ears!
Box
Engage in a boxing match
Box
A container, usually rectangular, with a lid, used for storage.
She stored her jewelry in a small wooden box.
Box
A cardboard container used for packaging or shipping.
He received a box of books from the online retailer.
Box
A compartment or enclosed space for a specific purpose.
The theater has a private box for VIP guests.
Common Curiosities
Is it common to transport machinery in boxes?
Machinery is typically transported in crates due to their sturdiness.
Are boxes usually larger than crates?
No, boxes are generally smaller than crates.
Can I use a crate as a decorative piece in my home?
Yes, many people repurpose crates as decorative storage or furniture pieces.
Are gift boxes and packaging boxes the same?
No, gift boxes are designed for presentation, while packaging boxes prioritize protection.
What materials are crates typically made of?
Crates are usually made of wood, metal, or plastic.
Are all boxes fully enclosed?
While most boxes are fully enclosed, there are open-top boxes used in specific scenarios.
Can I ship items in a crate instead of a box?
Yes, especially for bulk or heavy items, crates are preferable.
Can I use a crate for gardening?
Yes, crates can be repurposed as planters or garden organizers.
Can crates be used for storing household items?
Yes, crates can be used for household storage and organizing.
Which is more environmentally friendly, a crate or a box?
It depends on the material and usage. Reusable crates can be eco-friendly, but so can recyclable boxes.
Do boxes always come with lids?
Not always. While many boxes have lids, some, like open-top boxes, do not.
Are crates typically more expensive than boxes?
Due to their sturdiness and material, crates can be more expensive than regular boxes.
Is it safe to transport fragile items in a box?
Yes, but it's crucial to use proper padding and choose a sturdy box.
Are crates designed for single-use?
No, many crates are designed for multiple uses, especially in commercial settings.
Can I use a box as a temporary seat?
While crates are sturdier for seating, a robust box can serve as a temporary seat if it can bear the weight.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
