box someone's ears
box someone's ears verb: to slap someone on the side of the head, usually as an informal punishment.
Verb
box someone's ears (third-person singular simple present boxes someone's ears, present participle boxing someone's ears, simple past and past participle boxed someone's ears)
- To slap someone on the side of the head, usually as an informal punishment.
- "Was it the Matron's practice to box the girls' ears whilst you were at the Home?"
"I have seen her do so. She came into the workroom one day when, I think, A— was there. I know it was one of the bigger girls. I took particular notice, because I had never seen anyone using both hands before."
"You...1908 Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives of New Zealand. 1908, report of commission Te Oranga Home p.53
- "Was it the Matron's practice to box the girls' ears whilst you were at the Home?"
Forms of box someone's ears
| third-person singular present | boxes someone's ears |
|---|---|
| present participle | boxing someone's ears |
| past participle | boxed someone's ears |
| past | boxed someone's ears |
Questions about box someone's ears
- What does box someone's ears mean?
- Box someone's ears means to slap someone on the side of the head, usually as an informal punishment.
- What part of speech is box someone's ears?
- Box someone's ears is a verb.
- What is the past tense of box someone's ears?
- The past tense of box someone's ears is boxed someone's ears.
Words near box someone's ears in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: box someone's ears (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-box someone's ears.ogg.
Cite this entry: “box someone's ears.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/box_someone%27s_ears. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.