saltbox

Noun

saltbox (plural saltboxes)

1. A box for keeping salt in.
2. A similar box formerly used as a percussion instrument in burlesque music.
   • [O]ne who had heard without seeing the application, would have mistaken the sound for that of a salt-box, in the hand of a dext'rous Merry Andrew, belonging to one of the booths at Bartholomew Fair.1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC
3. (US) A distinctively shaped wooden-frame house with two stories at the front and one behind, characteristic of New England.
   • Rather than build new homes, weekenders are renovating existing homes, with saltboxes and capes predominant.2007 March 9, Wendy Knight, “A Town That’s Still Down to Earth in a Highflying Ski Region”, in New York Times
4. A roof where one side slopes farther down than the other.
5. (UK, historical, slang) The cell in Newgate prison for a prisoner condemned to death.
   • “I think I'd rather languish in the Salt Box at Newgate Prison wearing the Devil's Claws than to be married to that tree,” Kierney said.Heather Herrman, The Corpse Queen, in 2017, Dark Screams (volume 6)
   • As expected, Peg was indeed cast for death and was moved to the 'salt box' (the condemned cell) in the Press-yard to be near the New Drop.2018, Charles Palliser, The Quincunx: The Clothiers