Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A box, usually of wood, filled with sand, sawdust, or the like, to receive discharges of spittle, tobacco-juice, etc.; a spittoon.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A vessel to receive spittle.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A vessel to receive spittle; a spittoon.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

spit +‎ box

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word spitbox.

Examples

  • Amid a considerable clapping of hands and a scattering fire at the square sawdust-spitbox near the stove, Jack found his seat, while Jim remarked:

    With Sabre and Scalpel. The Autobiography of a Soldier and Surgeon John Allan 1914

  • By the regulations of the ship, the forecastle was cleaned out every morning, and the crew, being very neat, kept it clean by some regulations of their own, such as having a large spitbox always under the steps and between the bits, and obliging every man to hang up his wet clothes, etc.

    Chapter XXII. Life on Shore-The Alert 1909

  • He had never lacked company -- the office stove and the spitbox filled with sawdust was the admitted rendezvous of the chosen spirits who were still gazing after him from the window.

    The Miracle Man 1909

  • Collins despised 'Patchie Sanchez, whom he had known five years, and described as a "durrty cross betune a skunk and a spitbox," a greaser Indian who would knife his best friend.

    Tonio, Son of the Sierras A Story of the Apache War Charles King 1888

  • By the regulations of the ship, the forecastle was cleaned out every morning, and the crew, being very neat, kept it clean by some regulations of their own, such as having a large spitbox always under the steps and between the bits, and obliging every man to hang up his wet clothes, etc.

    Two years before the mast, and twenty-four years after: a personal narrative 1869

  • By the regulations of the ship, the forecastle was cleaned out every morning, and the crew, being very neat, kept it clean by some regulations of their own, such as having a large spitbox always under the steps and between the bits, and obliging every man to hang up his wet clothes, etc.

    Two Years Before the Mast Richard Henry Dana 1848

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.