Words related to box
"fighting with the fists as a sport," 1711, verbal noun from box (v.2). Boxing glove "padded glove used in sparring" is from 1805.
"light box of pasteboard or thin wood," originally made to hold the starched bands worn as collars in 17c. men's and women's dress, 1630s, from band (n.1) + box (n.1). Later used for other light articles of attire, but the name stuck. Typical of something fragile and flimsy, but it also was figurative of smallness and of neat, clean condition.
1809, "first weekday after Christmas," on which by an English custom postmen, employees, and others can expect to receive a Christmas present; originally in reference to the custom of distributing the contents of the Christmas box, which had been placed in the church for charity collections. See box (n.1). The custom is older than the phrase.
1786, "office in a theater in which tickets are sold," from box (n.1) + office (n.). Box is attested from late 14c. in the specialized sense of "money box," especially one in which money is kept for some particular purpose; this was extended to "funds, money" before c. 1400. Box office in the figurative sense of "financial element of a performance" is recorded by 1904.
tortoise-like land-dwelling turtle of North America, 1825, American English for what is called by English writers a box-tortoise (1834), from box (n.1), so called for its resemblance to a tight, closed box when the head, tail, and legs are drawn in.
