inbox

noun

in·​box ˈin-ˌbäks 

variants or in-box

plural inboxes or in-boxes

1

: a box or tray (as on a desk) for holding incoming interoffice mail

2

: a computer folder devoted to incoming email

One of my favorite rituals soon became scanning our email inbox, looking for your photographs … and reading the letters you sent …

—Amy Virshup

Examples of inbox in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This year, however, my inbox seemed to have increased 100-fold overnight. — Cellene Hoogenkamp, Forbes.com, 30 Oct. 2026

In early 2024, a smaller brand popped into Chody’s inbox and proposed a collaboration. — Elizabeth Gulino, Allure, 29 Oct. 2026

There, in my inbox, was an email from the editor claiming to have already evaluated my book. — David McGrath, Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026

Its sales representatives are individually building personal Gmail scripts, at night, in Google Apps Script, to survive an inbox that the AI-first version of the same company would have automated a year ago. — Stephen Messer, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

in-box

noun

ˈin-ˌbäks 

: a receptacle for incoming letters between offices in an organization

also : a computer folder for incoming email