shoebox

noun

shoe·​box ˈshü-ˌbäks How to pronounce shoebox (audio)
variants or less commonly shoe box
1
: a box that shoes are sold in
a shoebox full of old photographs
2
: a small space and especially a small living space
The loft, almost an hour from her house by tube, is a shoebox with 18-foot ceilings, white and blue, with odds and ends of mismatched furniture …Michael Kimmelman
often used before another noun
a shoebox apartment
Since commercial real estate was cheaper, art galleries and Off Off Off Broadway theaters could spring up in shoebox storefronts.James Wolcott

Examples of shoebox in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Notably also in Michigan, a man who lived in the same house as a 6-year-old boy who shot and killed classmate Kayla Rolland in 2000 was charged and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for leaving the gun accessible to the child in a shoebox. Gina Kaufman, USA TODAY, 1 Feb. 2024 There wasn't a baby box at 3228 River Park Drive, so Samuel's biological mother wrapped him in a blanket and placed him in a Nike shoebox just at shift change at the fire station. Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 12 Mar. 2024 In a harrowing essay for The Cut, freelance finance writer Charlotte Cowles details how she was manipulated into putting $50,000 in a shoebox and handing it to a stranger in a white Mercedes on the instructions of someone who claimed to be a CIA agent. Andrew Couts, WIRED, 17 Feb. 2024 The power supply is nice and compact, unlike some docking stations that have power bricks the size of a shoebox. Mark Sparrow, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2024 The news release included a surveillance image of the men walking out of a Nike store in San Jose with their arms full of shoeboxes and other merchandise. Robert Salonga, The Mercury News, 7 Feb. 2024 One is a note from his birth mother, and the other is the blanket in which the days-old baby was swaddled in when he was placed inside a shoebox. Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 9 Feb. 2024 In 2000, Jamelle James, a Michigan resident, pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter for leaving his handgun in a shoebox in his bedroom. Thaddeus Hoffmeister, The Conversation, 6 Feb. 2024 Household savings are not like a shoebox stuffed with cash that is being spent down. Mike Sommers, Fortune Europe, 1 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'shoebox.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1838, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of shoebox was in 1838

Dictionary Entries Near shoebox

Cite this Entry

“Shoebox.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoebox. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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