Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BOX, n. [Sax. box, a coffer and the box tree; L. buxus, the tree, and pyxis, a box; Gr. πυξις, a box, and πυξος, the tree; πυξ, the fist; Ir. bugsa, buksa; Sw. buxbom; Ger. buchsbaum; D. buxbom, the box tree; Ger. büchse, a box; It. bosso, the box tree; bossolo, a box; Sp. box, the tree; Port. buxo, the tree; buxa, a stopple; Pers. بَقَشْ baxas, buxus, box tree; Ar. the same. Box may be from closeness, applied to the shrub, the fist and the case.]

1. A coffer or chest, either of wood or metal. In general, the word box is used for a case of rough boards, or more slightly made than a chest, and used for the conveyance of goods. But the name is applied to cases of any size and of any materials; as, a wooden box, a tin box, an iron box, a strong box.
2. The quantity that a box contains; as, a box of quicksilver; a box of rings. In some cases, the quantity called a box is fixed by custom; in others, it is uncertain, as a box of tea or sugar.
3. A certain seat in a play-house, or in any public room.
4. The case which contains the mariner's compass.
5. A money chest.
6. A tree or shrub, constituting the genus Buxus, used for bordering flower-beds. The African box is the Myrsine.
7. A blow on the head with the hand, or on the ear with the open hand.
8. A cylindrical hollow iron used in wheels, in which the axle-tree runs. Also, a hollow tube in a pump, closed with a valve.

BOX, v.i.

To fight with the fist; to combat with the hand or fist.

BOX, v.t.

1. To inclose in a box; also, to furnish with boxes, as a wheel or block.
2. To strike with the hand or fist, especially the ear or side of the head.
3. To rehearse the several points of the compass in their proper order. – Encyc.
4. To make a hole or cut in a tree to procure the sap; as, to box a maple.
5. To sail round. [Sp. boxar.]

BOX'COAT, n.

An overcoat worn by coachmen.

BOX'ED, pp.

Inclosed in a box; struck on the head with the fist or hand; furnished with a box or hollow iron, as a wheel.

BOX'EN, a.

Made of box-wood; resembling box. – Dryden. Gay.

BOX'ER, n.

One who fights with his fist.

BOX'-HAUL, v.t.

To veer ship in a particular manner, when it is impracticable to tack. – Chambers.

BOX'ING, n.

The act of fighting with the fist; a combat with the fist.

BOX'ING, ppr.

Inclosing in a box; striking with the fist; furnishing with a box.

BOX'-LOB-BY, n.

In a theater, the lobby leading to the boxes.

BOX'-THORN, n. [box and thorn.]

A plant, the Lycium, or a species of it. – Fam. of Plants.

BOY, n. [Pers. bach, a boy; W. baçgen, from baç, little; Arm. buguel, a child; bugale, boyish; Sw. poike, a young boy; Dan. pog; Fr. page. See Beagle and Pug. Boy is a contracted word, and probably the L. puer, for puger, for we see by puella, that r is not radical. So the Gr. παις probably is contracted, for the derivative verb, παιζω, forms παιξω, παιχθεις. The radical letters probably are Bg or Pg.]

A male child, from birth to the age of puberty; but in general applied to males under ten or twelve years of age; a lad. Sometimes it is used in contempt for a young man, indicating immaturity, want of vigor or judgment.

BOY, v.t.

To treat as a boy. – Johnson. Rather, to act as a boy; to imitate a boy in action. The passage in Shakspeare, in which this word is found, is supposed to allude to the practice of boys acting women's parts, on the stage. I shall see some squeaking Cleopatra boy my greatness. – See Mason's Sup. to Johnson.

BOY'AR, n.

A Russian nobleman. [See Boiar.]

BOY'AU, n. [boy'o; plu. boyaux. Fr. boyau, a gut, and a branch of a tree.]

In fortification, a ditch covered with a parapet, serving as a communication between two trenches. – Encyc.

BOY'-BLIND, a.

Blind as a boy; undiscerning. [Obs.] – Beaum.

BOY'ER, n.

A Flemish sloop with a castle at each end. – Encyc.

BOY'HOOD, n. [boy and hood.]

The state of a boy, or of immature age. – Swift.

BOY'ISH, a.

Belonging to a boy; childish; trifling; resembling a boy in manners or opinions; puerile. – Shak. BOY'ISH-LY adv. Childishly; in a trifling manner. – Sherwood.

BOY'ISH-NESS, n.

Childishness; the manners or behavior of a boy.

BOY'ISM, n.

1. Childishness; puerility. – Dryden.
2. The state of a boy. – Warton. BOYS'PLAY n. Childish amusement; any thing trifling.

BOY-U'NA, n.

A large serpent of America, black and slender, having an intolerable smell. Also, a harmless reptile. – Dict. of Nat. Hist.

BP, n.

An abbreviation of Bishop.

BRA-BANT'INE, a.

Pertaining to Brabant, a province of the Netherlands, of which Brussels is the capital. – State Papers, V. ii.