boxing

Verb

box (third-person singular simple present boxes, present participle boxing, simple past and past participle boxed)

1. (transitive) To place inside a box; to pack in one or more boxes.
   • He also testified that the reason he crated the one machine and boxed the other was because one machine was stronger and the other frailer, and that made it dangerous to crate it.1917, “Edwin B. Stimpson Co. v. Chicago, B. & Q. R. Co.”, in New York Supplement, volume 164, page 71

   Synonyms:

   box up, case, embox, encase, pack, pack up, package

2. (transitive) Usually followed by in: to surround and enclose in a way that restricts movement; to corner, to hem in.
   • A large majority of children seem to delight in emotionally boxing in their parents—setting the double-bind trap by giving the parent two choices but determining ahead of time that neither choice will be sufficient for their satisfaction.1996, Bill Borcherdt, “The Door Swings Both Ways: When Children Double Bind Their Parents”, in Making Families Work and What to Do when They Don’t: Thirty Guides for Imperfect Parents of Imperfect...
3. (transitive) To mix two containers of paint of similar colour to ensure that the color is identical.
   • Straining eliminates lumps in the paint. If the paint has separated, stir the thick paint up from the bottom of each can to free as many lumps as possible. Then box the paint, pouring it all together through a nylon paint strainer and into the bucket. Paint less than one year old usually doesn't...2004, Brian Santos, “Painting Like a Pro”, in Painting Secrets from Brian Santos, the Wall Wizard, Des Moines, Iowa: Meredith Books, →ISBN, page 95
4. (transitive) To make an incision or hole in (a tree) for the purpose of procuring the sap.
   • The early settlers either boxed the tree or cut large slanting gashes, from the lower end of which a rudely fashioned spout conducted the sap to a bucket. This method was very destructive to the tree, and boring was substituted for it.1918 April, F. L. B., “The Maple Sugar Industry”, in Forest Leaves, volume XVI, number 8 (number 184 overall), Philadelphia, Pa.: Pennsylvania Forestry Association, →OCLC, page 115, column 2
5. (transitive) To enclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to conceal (for example, pipes) or to bring to a required form.
   • As early as the 1850s, prisons were being made "safer" by boxing in water pipes and enclosing galleries with netting to prevent jumping.2013, Ronald V[ictor] Clarke, David Lester, “Introduction to the Transaction Edition”, in Suicide: Closing the Exits, New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, →ISBN, page ix
6. (transitive) To furnish (for example, the axle of a wheel) with a box.
   • [T]he death of the said deceased Daniel Docherty, while in the defender's employment as an engineman, […] is alleged to have been owing to the engine house, which contained the engine of which the deceased had charge, being of a dangerous and improper construction, and the fly-wheel not having been...1862 February 25, Archibald Alison (judge), “Sarah Hamil, or Docherty, relict of the deceased Daniel Docherty, Agnes Docherty, and Sarah Docherty, residing with her, his daughters and only children...

See all 52 meanings of box