Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small, often decorated box with a hinged lid, used for carrying snuff.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A box for holding snuff, especially one small enough to be carried in the pocket. When it was customary to take snuff, as in the eighteenth century, a snuff-box was a common present, whether of good will or ceremony. On this account, and for personal display, these boxes were often made of the most costly materials, highly finished portraits were set in their lids, and settings of diamonds or pearls were not unknown. See also cut under niello.
  • noun A puffball: same as devil's snuff-box (which see, under devil). See also Lycoperdon.

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

  • noun A small box for carrying snuff about the person.

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

  • noun A small box or container to hold snuff or loose tobacco.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a small ornamental box for carrying snuff in your pocket

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

snuff +‎ box

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Examples

  • The size was "snuffbox," or waistcoat pocket (capacious in 1790, see "School for Scandal," etc.,

    Banbury Chap Books And Nursery Toy Book Literature Edwin Pearson

  • I marveled at the rich photos and detailed copy—and desperately coveted that oval snuffbox with the plumed helmet on the lid.

    Browser's Delight Henrik Bering 2011

  • Napoleonic Wars hero Horatio Nelson 1758–1805 once owned one of the items, a faux tortoise-shell snuffbox depicting a scene from a seaside Italian town on its lid.

    The Tchotchkes of Nelson and Churchill 2012

  • Saturnino peaches are known as "tabacchiere" (snuffbox) in Italian.

    Weekend Herb Blogging #190 Round-Up Laurie Constantino 2009

  • Saturnino peaches are known as "tabacchiere" (snuffbox) in Italian.

    Archive 2009-07-01 Laurie Constantino 2009

  • The son of Nelson's secretary, who inherited the snuffbox, thought Nelson had given it to his secretary to show off in front of his new or soon-to-be paramour.

    The Tchotchkes of Nelson and Churchill 2012

  • The pocket watch and snuffbox were of no interest to him, although he took them anyway to make it appear that Rosen had been robbed, but the thick wad of the ready Rosen was sporting was enough to keep him in relative comfort for a number of days.

    Shameless KAREN ROBARDS 2010

  • The Frenchman shrugged, removed a snuffbox from the pocket of his fashionable short-tailed jacket, and partook of the powdered tobacco with a noisy snort.

    The Curse of the Wendigo William James Henry 2010

  • The pocket watch and snuffbox were of no interest to him, although he took them anyway to make it appear that Rosen had been robbed, but the thick wad of the ready Rosen was sporting was enough to keep him in relative comfort for a number of days.

    Shameless KAREN ROBARDS 2010

  • The Frenchman shrugged, removed a snuffbox from the pocket of his fashionable short-tailed jacket, and partook of the powdered tobacco with a noisy snort.

    The Curse of the Wendigo William James Henry 2010

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