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

To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here. —Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 11 Feb. 2026

In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox. —John Wenzel, Denver Post, 11 Feb. 2026

Get editorials, opinion columns, letters to the editor and more in your inbox weekday mornings. —Nicholas D. Kristof, Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2026

To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here and select the Sports Report. —John Cherwa, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2026

Have the latest Reality Checks delivered to your inbox with our free newsletter. —Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 11 Feb. 2026

Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. —Diana Olick, CNBC, 11 Feb. 2026

My inbox overflowed with the latest theories on how Democrats had lost their way and what was needed to revive them. —Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2026

Sign up for the Goings On newsletter to receive their selections, and other cultural recommendations, in your inbox. —The New Yorker, New Yorker, 11 Feb. 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