Box
Box (plural boxes) describes a variety of containers and receptacles for permanent use as storage, or for temporary use often for transporting contents. The word derives from the Greek πύξος (puxos), "box, boxwood".[1][2]
Boxes may be made of durable material such as wood or metal, or of corrugated fiberboard, paperboard, or other non-durable materials. The size may vary from very small (e.g., a matchbox) to the size of a large appliance. A corrugated box is a very common shipping container. When no specific shape is described, a box of rectangular cross-section with all sides flat may be expected, but a box may have a horizontal cross section that is square, elongated, round or oval; sloped or domed top surfaces, or non-vertical sides.
A decorative box may be opened by raising, pulling, sliding or removing the lid, which may be hinged and/or fastened by a catch, clasp, lock, or adhesive tape.
Packaging boxes
Several types of boxes are used in packaging and storage.
- A corrugated box is a shipping container made of corrugated fiberboard. These are most commonly used to transport and warehouse products during distribution.
- A folding carton (sometimes called a box) is fabricated from paperboard. The paperboard is printed (if necessary), die-cut and scored to form a blank. These are transported and stored flat, and erected at the point of filling. These are used to package a wide range of consumer goods.
- A variant of the folding carton is the gift box, used for birthday or Christmas gifts and often wrapped in decorative wrapping paper.
- A "set up" box (or rigid paperboard box) is made of a non-bending grade of paperboard. Unlike folding cartons, these are assembled at the point of manufacture and transported already "set-up". Set-up boxes are more expensive than folding boxes and are typically used for protecting high value items such as cosmetics, watches or smaller consumer electronics.
- A wooden box is heavy duty shipping container made of wood. See also crate.
- A variant of the wooden box is the wooden wine box or wine crate, which is used for shipping and storing expensive wines.
- A bulk box is a large box often used in industrial environments. It is sized to fit well on a pallet.
Depending on locale and specific usage, the terms carton box are sometimes used interchangeably.
Storage boxes
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Boxes for storing various items in can often be very decorative, as they are intended for permanent use and sometimes put on display.
- A jewelry (AmE) or jewellery (BrE) box, is a box for trinkets or jewels. It can take a very modest form, covered in leather and lined with satin, or be larger and more highly decorated.
- A humidor is a specially designed box for storing cigars at constant humidity and the right temperature.
- A safe, or "strong box", can be a secure lockable box for storing money or highly valuable items, often placed in a wall for increased security.
- A toolbox is used for holding tools of various kinds. Toolboxes are often very sturdy and made to be carried around.
Electrical wall boxes
- Fuse box, holds electrical circuit breaker switches.
- Junction box, a fixed container for electrical connections.
Postal service boxes
- Post box (British English and others, also written postbox), or mailbox (North American English and others) is a physical box used to collect mail that is to be sent to a destination. Variants of post boxes for outgoing mail include:
Boxes where postmen deposit incoming mail for the recipient include:
- Letter box (in the US usually called mailbox), positioned near or on the mail recipient's home or place of work.
- Post office box, (often abbreviated P.O. box or PO box), a lockable box rented by the mail recipient, which is located in a post office or in the premises of a company offering such facilities.
Booths that are sometimes called boxes
- Police box, a booth for use by police in 20th century Britain.
- Penalty box, a booth used in sports where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty.
- Telephone box, a booth containing a public telephone.
- Signal box, a building by a railway to coordinate and control railway signals.
Other boxes
- Ballot box, a box in which votes (ballot papers) are deposited during voting.
- Black box, something for which the internal operation is not described but its function is.
- Black box (transportation), a durable data-recording device found in some vehicles, used to assist in the investigation of an accident.
- Box, informal reference to large box-shaped parts of a computer, such as the base unit or tower case of a personal computer.
- Coach Box or the driver's seat on a carriage coach.
- Dispatch box, (or despatch box), a box for holding official papers and transporting them.
- Glory box or Hope Chest, a box or chest containing items typically stored by unmarried young women in anticipation of married life.
- Jack-in-the-box, a children's toy containing a surprise.
- Lunch box, or "lunch pail" or "lunch kit", a rigid container used for carrying food. Can also be decorative.
- Mitre box, a woodworking tool used to guide a hand saw to make precise mitre cuts in a board.
- Nest box, a substitute for a hole in a tree for birds to make a nest in.
- Pandora's box, in Greek mythology, a box containing the evils of mankind and also hope.
- Set-top box, a device used to decode and display TV signals.
- Check box, on paper, normally to check off as opinion or option.
See also
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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