box in

phrasal verb

boxed in; boxing in; boxes in

: to surround (someone or something) and make movement difficult

The other bicyclists boxed her in and she couldn't move ahead.

—usually used as (be) boxed in

We were boxed in and couldn't get out of our parking space.

—sometimes used figuratively

I feel boxed in by all these rules.

Examples of box in in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Its all-electric Atlas, unveiled in 2024, is being tested on jobs like handling boxes in a mock construction site. —Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 10 Sep. 2025

Thousands of pages of documents stashed in drawers, stuffed in bags, and piled in boxes in a bathtub chronicle every step of their 16-year quest for justice. —Sheryl Estrada, Fortune, 9 Sep. 2025

There are, however, few locations that check enough boxes in terms of acreage and availability. —Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 9 Sep. 2025

Chapters across the country announced price increases from $4 to $5 a box in 2014 and 2015, and to $6 in 2023. —Jordan Valinsky, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2025

Rhymes for box in

• coxon
• oxen
• tocsin
• toxin
• aflatoxin
• antitoxin
• digitoxin
• endotoxin
• exotoxin
• ferredoxin
• mycotoxin
• neurotoxin