hugbox
hugbox noun: a therapeutic device designed to apply pressure to the body of a hypersensitive person (usually someone on the autism spectrum) in order to calm them by providing grounding sensory stimulation.
Noun
hugbox (plural hugboxes)
- A therapeutic device designed to apply pressure to the body of a hypersensitive person (usually someone on the autism spectrum) in order to calm them by providing grounding sensory stimulation.
- She [Temple Grandin] couldn't stand to be touched but was starved for affection and the safety of being contained. This need led to her clever device, the “hug box” which compressed her sides like the cattle chute it was modeled after.2011, Recovering the Self: A Journal of Hope and Healing, Volume 3, Number 4, October 2011, unnumbered page
- A short 10-15 minute time to yourself to think, meditate, or, as Temple Grandin did with the “hug box,” find a type of sensory feedback that calms your body and mind.2013, Ashley Stanford, Troubleshooting Relationships on the Autism Spectrum: A User's Guide to Resolving Relationship Problems, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, →ISBN, page 233
- Synonyms:
- hug machine, squeeze box, squeeze machine
- An environment that validates or reinforces a narrow set of beliefs by relying on false positivity and excluding any form of criticism.
- Instead, we get a bunch of hugbox panel discussions where people just reiterate the same, obvious points. Yes, rape is bad. We get it.2011, "The Waif", "I Hate Activists", Oregon Commentator (University of Oregon), Volume 28, Issue 11, 18 May 2011, page 10
- Discussions on social issues aren't so much “discussions” as online hugboxes, because the mechanics of Tumblr make it so.2014 February 10, Emma Atlas, “Microblogging: Democratizing truth”, in The Diamondback, volume 104, number 68, University of Maryland, page 4
- Synonyms:
- echo chamber, filter bubble, mutual admiration society, safe space, circle jerk
Verb
hugbox (third-person singular simple present hugboxes or hugboxxes, present participle hugboxing or hugboxxing, simple past and past participle hugboxed or hugboxxed)
- To insert into a hugbox; to insert into an environment that validates or reinforces a narrow set of beliefs by relying on false positivity and excluding any form of criticism.
Synonyms of hugbox
Forms of hugbox
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | hugboxes |
| alternative form | hug box |
| alternative form | hug-box |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | hugboxes |
| third-person singular present | hugboxxes |
| present participle | hugboxing |
| present participle | hugboxxing |
| past participle | hugboxed |
| past | hugboxed |
| past participle | hugboxxed |
| past | hugboxxed |
Origin of hugbox
From hug + box.
Questions about hugbox
- What does hugbox mean?
- Hugbox means a therapeutic device designed to apply pressure to the body of a hypersensitive person (usually someone on the autism spectrum) in order to calm them by providing grounding sensory stimulation.
- What part of speech is hugbox?
- Hugbox can be a noun or a verb.
- What is the plural of hugbox?
- The plural of hugbox is hugboxes.
Words near hugbox in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hugbox (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-hugbox.ogg.
Cite this entry: “hugbox.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/hugbox. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.