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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Box \Box\, noun; pl. {Boxes} [As. box a small case or vessel with a cover; akin to OHG. buhsa box, G. b["u]chse; fr. L. buxus boxwood, anything made of boxwood. See {Pyx}, and cf. {Box} a tree, {Bushel}.]
1. A receptacle or case of any firm material and of various shapes.
2. The quantity that a box contain.
3. 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. --Dorset.
The boxes and the pit are sovereign judges. --Dryden.
4. 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. --J. Warton.
5. A small country house. ''A shooting box.'' --Wilson.
Tight boxes neatly sashed. --Cowper.
6. A boxlike shed for shelter; as, a sentry box.
7. (Mach) (a) An axle box, journal box, journal bearing, or bushing. (b) A chamber or section of tube in which a valve works; the bucket of a lifting pump.
8. The driver's seat on a carriage or coach.
9. A present in a box; a present; esp. a Christmas box or gift. ''A Christmas box.'' --Dickens.
10. (Baseball) The square in which the pitcher stands.
11. (Zo["o]l.) A Mediterranean food fish; the bogue.
Note: 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.
{Box beam} (Arch.), a beam made of metal plates so as to have the form of a long box.
{Box car} (Railroads), a freight car covered with a roof and inclosed on the sides to protect its contents.
{Box chronometer}, a ship's chronometer, mounted in gimbals, to preserve its proper position.
{Box coat}, a thick overcoat for driving; sometimes with a heavy cape to carry off the rain.
{Box coupling}, a metal collar uniting the ends of shafts or other parts in machinery.
{Box crab} (Zo["o]l.), a crab of the genus {Calappa}, which, when at rest with the legs retracted, resembles a box.
{Box drain} (Arch.), a drain constructed with upright sides, and with flat top and bottom.
{Box girder} (Arch.), a box beam.
{Box groove} (Metal Working), a closed groove between two rolls, formed by a collar on one roll fitting between collars on another. --R. W. Raymond.
{Box metal}, an alloy of copper and tin, or of zinc, lead, and antimony, for the bearings of journals, etc.
{Box plait}, a plait that doubles both to the right and the left.
{Box turtle} or
{Box tortoise} (Zo["o]l.), a land tortoise or turtle of the genera {Cistudo} and {Emys}; -- so named because it can withdraw entirely within its shell, which can be closed by hinged joints in the lower shell. Also, humorously, an exceedingly reticent person. --Emerson.
{In a box}, in a perplexity or an embarrassing position; in difficulty. (Colloq.)
{In the wrong box}, out of one's place; out of one's element; awkwardly situated. (Colloq.) --Ridley (1554)
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