Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

box and cox

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.91 in modern English

Syllables: box and -cox
IPA

28

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

name

Two people who occupy the same post or location in an alternating arrangement.

British usage

verb

To alternate with each other, often in the same post or location.

British usage

verb

To alternate between two people.

British usage

Example Sentences

"If any single production staked his claim to greatness it was John Barton’s 1973 RSC production of Richard II, in which Pasco and Ian Richardson boxed and coxed the roles of the King and Bolingbroke."
"Although he meets von Humboldt by the end of the first chapter, it will take the whole book for there to be a meeting of minds between these two giants of the German intellect, with Kehlmann boxing and coxing between the two chapter by chapter."

Etymology

From the characters of the 1847 farce Box and Cox by John Maddison Morton, in which an unscrupulous landlady rents a room to two men, one during the day and one at night.

Usage

British usage

Inflected Forms

boxes and coxes (present, singular) boxing and coxing (participle, present) boxed and coxed (participle, past) boxed and coxed (past) box-and-cox (alternative)

Phrases

box and cox

Questions

What does box and cox mean?: Two people who occupy the same post or location in an alternating arrangement.
Where does box and cox come from?: From the characters of the 1847 farce Box and Cox by John Maddison Morton, in which an unscrupulous landlady rents a room to two men, one during the day and one at night.

How to pronounce box and cox

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