box office

noun

1

a

: an office (as in a theater) where tickets of admission are sold

b

: income from ticket sales (as for a film)

2

: the ability (as of a show) to attract ticket buyers

also : something that enhances that ability

any publicity is good box office

Examples of box office in a Sentence

The box office will open at 10:00 a.m.

Recent Examples on the Web

At number 1 was Zootopia 2, adding to its already $1 billion+ global box office. —Bethy Squires, Vulture, 15 Dec. 2025

Bettmann Archive—Getty Images The play, which dramatized the Zoot Suit Riots, had broken box office records at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 1978 before heading off to Broadway. —David Alvarado, Time, 15 Dec. 2025

This year, there was a media obsession surrounding box office and budgets and profitability. —Mia Galuppo, HollywoodReporter, 15 Dec. 2025

The pic, which opened September 26 and has surpassed $200 million at the global box office, has already been named Best Picture by the New York and Los Angeles critics groups and the National Board of Review and won the Best Feature honor at the Gotham Awards. —Patrick Hipes, Deadline, 15 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1741, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for box office

• interoffice

Kids Definition

box office

noun

: an office in a public place (as a theater or stadium) where admission tickets are sold