v. t. To strike with the hand or fist, especially to strike on the ear, or on the side of the head. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. t.
To box a tree,
To box off,
To box up.
n. [ Cf.Dan. baske to slap, bask slap, blow. Cf. Pash. ] A blow on the head or ear with the hand. [ 1913 Webster ]
A good-humored box on the ear. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. i. To fight with the fist; to combat with, or as with, the hand or fist; to spar. [ 1913 Webster ]
n.;
Laughed at by the pit, box, galleries, nay, stage. Dorset. [ 1913 Webster ]
The boxes and the pit are sovereign judges. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]
Yet since his neighbors give, the churl unlocks,
Damning the poor, his tripple-bolted box. J. Warton. [ 1913 Webster ]
Tight boxes neatly sashed. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]
☞ Box is much used adjectively or in composition; as box lid, box maker, box circle, etc.; also with modifying substantives; as money box, letter box, bandbox, hatbox or hat box, snuff box or snuffbox. [ 1913 Webster ]
Box beam (Arch.),
Box car (Railroads),
Box chronometer,
Box coat,
Box coupling,
Box crab (Zool.),
Box drain (Arch.),
Box girder (Arch.),
Box groove (Metal Working),
Box metal, an alloy of copper and tin, or of zinc, lead, and antimony, for the bearings of journals, etc. --
Box plait,
Box turtle
Box tortoise (Zool.),
In a box,
In the wrong box,
v. t. [ Cf.Sp. boxar, now spelt bojar. ] To boxhaul. [ 1913 Webster ]
To box off (Naut.),
To box the compass (Naut.),
n. [ As. box, L. buxus, fr. Gr. &unr_;. See Box a case. ] (Bot.) 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. [ 1913 Webster ]
Box elder,
Box holly,
Box thorn,
Box tree,
n. (Bot.) The wintergreen. (Gaultheria procumbens). [ Local, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]
adj.
a. Made of boxwood; pertaining to, or resembling, the box (
The faded hue of sapless boxen leaves. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]