Box vs. Case: Know the Difference
By Shumaila Saeed || Updated on December 25, 2023
A box is typically a container with a flat base and sides, often square or rectangular, whereas a case is a broader term, referring to any container, cover, or enclosure, often used for protection or storage.
Key Differences
A box is generally a rigid, rectangular container made of materials like cardboard, wood, or metal, used for storage or transport. In contrast, a case can be any type of container, often designed for specific items or purposes, like a suitcase for clothes or a case for musical instruments.
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Nov 12, 2023
Boxes are commonly associated with everyday storage and packaging, often featuring a lid or flaps for closure. Cases, however, imply a higher level of protection or specialization, like a phone case or a briefcase.
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In terms of design, boxes are typically simple and functional, with standard shapes. Cases are often tailored with specific features like padding, pockets, or compartments, catering to particular needs.
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The term 'box' can also refer to a bounded space in diagrams or layouts, while 'case' can denote an instance or example, as in legal or medical cases.
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In usage, 'box' often conveys a sense of routine or regularity, as in a subscription box, whereas 'case' can imply a scenario requiring attention or action, such as in a use-case or test-case.
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Comparison Chart
Primary Function
Storage and packaging
Protection and specialized containment
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Material Composition
Often rigid materials like cardboard or wood
Varies widely, often tailored for protection (e.g., plastic, leather)
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Shape and Design
Usually square or rectangular, simple design
Often contoured or fitted for specific items or purposes
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Common Uses
Shipping, storage, gift packaging
Carrying personal items, protecting gadgets, special purposes (e.g., instrument cases)
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Linguistic Usage
Can denote a bounded space or category
Can imply an instance, scenario, or example
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Box and Case Definitions
Box
A container with a flat base and sides, typically square or rectangular.
She packed her books in a cardboard box.
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Case
A container designed to hold or protect something.
He carried his guitar in a hard case.
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Box
A separate section or area for a specific purpose in a theater or sports ground.
They watched the game from a luxury box.
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Case
An instance of a particular situation; an example.
The detective studied the case carefully.
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Box
A small cubicle or compartment, like a telephone box.
He stepped into the phone box to make a call.
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Case
A situation requiring investigation or action.
The health department is investigating the outbreak case.
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Box
To enclose or confine within or as if within a box.
The new policy tends to box in the creative process.
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Case
An instance or occurrence of a particular kind or category
A case of mistaken identity.
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Box
A container typically constructed with four sides perpendicular to the base and often having a lid or cover.
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Case
A set of circumstances or a state of affairs; a situation
It may rain, in which case the hike will be canceled.
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Case
Actual fact; reality
We suspected the walls were hollow, and this proved to be the case.
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Box
A separated compartment in a public place of entertainment, such as a theater or stadium, for the accommodation of a small group.
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Box
An area of a public place, such as a courtroom or stadium, marked off and restricted for use by persons performing a specific function
A jury box.
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Case
A situation that requires investigation, especially by a formal or official body.
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Box
Chiefly British A small country house used as a sporting lodge
A shooting box.
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Case
A set of reasons or supporting facts; an argument
Presented a good case for changing the law.
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Case
A person being assisted, treated, or studied, as by a physician, lawyer, or social worker.
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Box
An area on a diamond marked by lines designating where the batter may stand.
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Box
Any of various designated areas for other team members, such as the pitcher, catcher, and coaches.
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Case
In traditional grammar, a distinct form of a noun, pronoun, or modifier that is used to express one or more particular syntactic relationships to other words in a sentence.
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Case
Case In some varieties of generative grammar, the thematic or semantic role of a noun phrase as represented abstractly but not necessarily indicated overtly in surface structure. In such frameworks, nouns in English have Case even in the absence of inflectional case endings.
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Box
(Printing) Featured printed matter enclosed by hairlines, a border, or white space and placed within or between text columns.
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Case
The form of a written, printed, or keyed letter that distinguishes it as being lowercase or uppercase
Typed the password using the wrong case.
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Case
(Slang) To examine carefully, as in planning a crime
Cased the bank before robbing it.
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Case
An actual event, situation, or fact.
For a change, in this case, he was telling the truth.
It is not the case that every unfamiliar phrase is an idiom.
In case of fire, break glass. [sign on fire extinguisher holder in public space]
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Case
A piece of work, specifically defined within a profession.
It was one of the detective's easiest cases.
Social workers should work on a maximum of forty active cases.
The doctor told us of an interesting case he had treated that morning.
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Case
(academia) An instance or event as a topic of study.
The teaching consists of theory lessons and case studies.
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Box
Any of several evergreen shrubs or trees of the genus Buxus, especially the Eurasian species B. sempervirens, widely cultivated as a hedge plant and having opposite, leathery, dark green leaves and small whitish flowers.
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Case
(grammar) A specific inflection of a word (particularly a noun, pronoun, or adjective) depending on its function in the sentence.
The accusative case canonically indicates a direct object.
Latin has six cases, and remnants of a seventh.
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Box
The hard, light yellow wood of any of these plants, formerly widely used to make musical instruments, inlays, engraving blocks, and measuring instruments. Also called boxwood.
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Case
Grammatical cases and their meanings taken either as a topic in general or within a specific language.
Jane has been studying case in Caucasian languages.
Latin is a language that employs case.
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Box
Any of various other shrubs or trees with similar foliage or timber, especially several types of eucalyptus.
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Case
(medicine) An instance of a specific condition or set of symptoms.
There were another five cases reported overnight.
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Case
(programming) A section of code representing one of the actions of a conditional switch.
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Case
A box that contains or can contain a number of identical items of manufacture.
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Box
To border or enclose with or as if with a box
Key sections of the report are boxed off.
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Case
A box, sheath, or covering generally.
A case for spectacles; the case of a watch
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Case
A piece of luggage that can be used to transport an apparatus such as a sewing machine.
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Box
To limit the activity or influence of by or as if by creating a restrictive structure or outlining a territory
The legislature was boxed in by its earlier decisions.
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Box
(Sports) To block (a competitor or opponent) from advancing, especially to hinder an opponent from getting a rebound in basketball by placing oneself between the opponent and the basket
Was boxed out by the tallest player on the team.
Was boxed in on the homestretch.
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Case
A piece of furniture, constructed partially of transparent glass or plastic, within which items can be displayed.
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Case
The outer covering or framework of a piece of apparatus such as a computer.
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Case
A shallow tray divided into compartments or "boxes" for holding type, traditionally arranged in sets of two, the "upper case" (containing capitals, small capitals, accented) and "lower case" (small letters, figures, punctuation marks, quadrats, and spaces).
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Box
To change the shape of (a structure, such as a wall) by applying lath and plaster or boarding.
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Case
The nature of a piece of alphabetic type, whether a “capital” (upper case) or “small” (lower case) letter.
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Case
(US) A unit of liquid measure used to measure sales in the beverage industry, equivalent to 192 fluid ounces.
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Case
A thin layer of harder metal on the surface of an object whose deeper metal is allowed to remain soft.
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Box
A cuboid container and its contents; as much as fills such a container.
A box of books
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Box
A compartment (as a drawer) of an item of furniture used for storage, such as a cupboard, a shelf, etc.
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Box
A compartment or receptacle for receiving items.
Post box
Post office box
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Case
(transitive) To place (an item or items of manufacture) into a box, as in preparation for shipment.
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Box
A compartment to sit inside in an auditorium, courtroom, theatre, or other building.
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Case
(transitive) To cover or protect with, or as if with, a case; to enclose.
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Case
To survey (a building or other location) surreptitiously, as in preparation for a robbery.
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Case
(poker slang) The last remaining card of a particular rank.
He drew the case eight!
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Case
A box, sheath, or covering; as, a case for holding goods; a case for spectacles; the case of a watch; the case (capsule) of a cartridge; a case (cover) for a book.
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Case
A box and its contents; the quantity contained in a box; as, a case of goods; a case of instruments.
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Case
That which befalls, comes, or happens; an event; an instance; a circumstance, or all the circumstances; condition; state of things; affair; as, a strange case; a case of injustice; the case of the Indian tribes.
In any case thou shalt deliver him the pledge.
If the case of the man be so with his wife.
And when a lady's in the caseYou know all other things give place.
You think this madness but a common case.
I am in case to justle a constable,
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Case
A patient under treatment; an instance of sickness or injury; as, ten cases of fever; also, the history of a disease or injury.
A proper remedy in hypochondriacal cases.
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Case
The matters of fact or conditions involved in a suit, as distinguished from the questions of law; a suit or action at law; a cause.
Let us consider the reason of the case, for nothing is law that is not reason.
Not one case in the reports of our courts.
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Oct 19, 2023
Box
(cricket) A hard protector for the genitals worn inside the underpants by a batsman or close fielder.
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Oct 19, 2023
Case
One of the forms, or the inflections or changes of form, of a noun, pronoun, or adjective, which indicate its relation to other words, and in the aggregate constitute its declension; the relation which a noun or pronoun sustains to some other word.
Case is properly a falling off from the nominative or first state of word; the name for which, however, is now, by extension of its signification, applied also to the nominative.
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Oct 19, 2023
Case
To cover or protect with, or as with, a case; to inclose.
The man who, cased in steel, had passed whole days and nights in the saddle.
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Box
(engineering) A cylindrical casing around the axle of a wheel, a bearing, a gland, etc.
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Oct 19, 2023
Box
(fencing) A device used in electric fencing to detect whether a weapon has struck an opponent, which connects to a fencer's weapon by a spool and body wire. It uses lights and sound to notify a hit, with different coloured lights for on target and off target hits.
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Oct 19, 2023
Case
A comprehensive term for any proceeding in a court of law whereby an individual seeks a legal remedy;
The family brought suit against the landlord
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Case
An occurrence of something;
It was a case of bad judgment
Another instance occurred yesterday
But there is always the famous example of the Smiths
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Case
A special set of circumstances;
In that event, the first possibility is excluded
It may rain in which case the picnic will be canceled
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Box
A rectangle: an oblong or a square.
Place a tick in the box.
This text would stand out better if we put it in a coloured box.
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Case
A problem requiring investigation;
Perry Mason solved the case of the missing heir
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Case
A statement of facts and reasons used to support an argument;
He stated his case clearly
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Box
(juggling) A pattern usually performed with three balls where the movements of the balls make a boxlike shape.
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Case
A portable container for carrying several objects;
The musicians left their instrument cases backstage
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Case
A person who is subjected to experimental or other observational procedures; someone who is an object of investigation;
The subjects for this investigation were selected randomly
The cases that we studied were drawn from two different communities
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Box
(aviation) A diamond-shaped flying formation consisting of four aircraft.
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Case
A person requiring professional services;
A typical case was the suburban housewife described by a marriage counselor
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Box
Any of various evergreen shrubs or trees of genus Buxus, especially common box, European box, or boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) which is often used for making hedges and topiary.
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Case
A glass container used to store and display items in a shop or museum or home
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Box
(Australia) An evergreen tree of the genus Lophostemon (for example, box scrub, Brisbane box, brush box, pink box, or Queensland box, Lophostemon confertus).
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Case
Nouns or pronouns or adjectives (often marked by inflection) related in some way to other words in a sentence
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Box
(Australia) Various species of Eucalyptus trees are popularly called various kinds of boxes, on the basis of the nature of their wood, bark, or appearance for example, the drooping (Eucalyptus bicolor), shiny-leaved (Eucalyptus tereticornis), black, or ironbark box trees.
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Case
The housing or outer covering of something;
The clock has a walnut case
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Case
A person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities);
A real character
A strange character
A friendly eccentric
The capable type
A mental case
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Box
(dated) A Mediterranean food fish of the genus Boops, which is a variety of sea bream; a bogue or oxeye.
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Case
An enveloping structure or covering enclosing an animal or plant organ or part
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Case
The enclosing frame around a door or window opening;
The casings had rotted away and had to be replaced
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Box
(transitive) Usually followed by in: to surround and enclose in a way that restricts movement; to corner, to hem in.
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Case
Bed linen consisting of a cover for a pillow;
The burglar carried his loot in a pillowcase
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Box
(transitive) To mix two containers of paint of similar colour to ensure that the color is identical.
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Case
Look over, usually with the intention to rob;
They men cased the housed
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Box
To make an incision or hole in (a tree) for the purpose of procuring the sap.
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Box
To enclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to conceal (for example, pipes) or to bring to a required form.
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Oct 19, 2023
Case
A matter to be resolved in a court of law.
The lawyer presented the case to the jury.
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Case
A set of circumstances or a state of affairs.
In case of emergency, break the glass.
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Box
(transitive) To strike with the fists; to punch.
Box someone’s ears
Leave this place before I box you!
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Oct 19, 2023
Box
A tree or shrub, flourishing in different parts of the world. The common box (Buxus sempervirens) has two varieties, one of which, the dwarf box (Buxus suffruticosa), is much used for borders in gardens. The wood of the tree varieties, being very hard and smooth, is extensively used in the arts, as by turners, engravers, mathematical instrument makers, etc.
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Box
A space with a few seats partitioned off in a theater, or other place of public amusement.
Laughed at by the pit, box, galleries, nay, stage.
The boxes and the pit are sovereign judges.
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Box
A chest or any receptacle for the deposit of money; as, a poor box; a contribution box.
Yet since his neighbors give, the churl unlocks,Damning the poor, his tripple-bolted box.
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Box
To inclose with boarding, lathing, etc., so as to bring to a required form.
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Box
To fight with the fist; to combat with, or as with, the hand or fist; to spar.
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Box
To strike with the hand or fist, especially to strike on the ear, or on the side of the head.
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Box
A (usually rectangular) container; may have a lid;
He rummaged through a box of spare parts
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Box
Private area in a theater or grandstand where a small group can watch the performance;
The royal box was empty
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Box
A predicament from which a skillful or graceful escape is impossible;
His lying got him into a tight corner
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Box
Any one of several designated areas on a ball field where the batter or catcher or coaches are positioned;
The umpire warned the batter to stay in the batter's box
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Box
The driver's seat on a coach;
An armed guard sat in the box with the driver
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Box
Separate partitioned area in a public place for a few people;
The sentry stayed in his box to avoid the cold
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Box
A blow with the hand (usually on the ear);
I gave him a good box on the ear
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Box
An area or space within a larger context, often marked off or designated.
Please tick the appropriate box on the form.
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Nov 12, 2023
Repeatedly Asked Queries
Are boxes always square or rectangular?
While most common, boxes can also be cylindrical or of other shapes.
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Nov 12, 2023
Can 'case' refer to legal scenarios?
Yes, in law, a 'case' is a matter decided or pending in court.
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Nov 12, 2023
Can 'case' also be a verb?
Yes, as in 'casing the joint,' meaning to examine or survey a place.
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Nov 12, 2023
Are boxes used in shipping?
Yes, boxes are a staple in packaging and shipping industries.
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Nov 12, 2023
Is a suitcase a type of case?
Yes, it's a specific type of case for carrying clothes and personal items.
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Nov 12, 2023
Is a 'case' always hard and rigid?
No, cases can be soft, like fabric pencil cases.
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Nov 12, 2023
What materials are boxes typically made of?
Boxes are often made of cardboard, wood, or plastic.
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Nov 12, 2023
What is a 'case study'?
It's an in-depth analysis of a particular instance or event.
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Nov 12, 2023
Are gift boxes a common use of boxes?
Yes, especially decorative ones for presentation.
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Nov 12, 2023
What's a 'box office'?
It's where tickets are sold, typically in a theater.
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Nov 12, 2023
What's a 'bookcase'?
It's a piece of furniture with shelves for storing books.
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Nov 12, 2023
What does 'in case' mean?
It's used to refer to a possible future scenario or precaution.
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Nov 12, 2023
Is a 'light box' used in photography?
Yes, for viewing or backlighting photographs or transparencies.
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Nov 12, 2023
Can 'case' mean to argue or plead?
Yes, especially in a legal or debating context.
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Nov 12, 2023
What does 'case-sensitive' mean?
It refers to distinguishing between uppercase and lowercase letters.
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Nov 12, 2023
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About Author
Written by
Shumaila SaeedShumaila Saeed, an expert content creator with 6 years of experience, specializes in distilling complex topics into easily digestible comparisons, shining a light on the nuances that both inform and educate readers with clarity and accuracy.
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