DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Box, n.; pl. Boxes
 1. A receptacle or case of any firm material and of various shapes.
 2. The quantity that a box contain.
 3. 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.   --Dorset.
    The boxes and the pit are sovereign judges.   --Dryden.
 4. 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.   --J. Warton.
 5. A small country house. “A shooting box.”
    Tight boxes neatly sashed.   --Cowper.
 6. A boxlike shed for shelter; as, a sentry box.
 7. Mach (a) An axle box, journal box, journal bearing, or bushing. (b) A chamber or section of tube in which a valve works; the bucket of a lifting pump.
 8. The driver's seat on a carriage or coach.
 9. A present in a box; a present; esp. a Christmas box or gift. “A Christmas box.”
 10. Baseball The square in which the pitcher stands.
 11. Zool. A Mediterranean food fish; the bogue.
 Note: ☞ Box is much used adjectively or in composition; as box lid, box maker, box circle, etc.; also with modifying substantives; as money box, letter box, bandbox, hatbox or hat box, snuff box or snuffbox.
 Box beam Arch., a beam made of metal plates so as to have the form of a long box.
 Box car Railroads, a freight car covered with a roof and inclosed on the sides to protect its contents.
 Box chronometer, a ship's chronometer, mounted in gimbals, to preserve its proper position.
 Box coat, a thick overcoat for driving; sometimes with a heavy cape to carry off the rain.
 Box coupling, a metal collar uniting the ends of shafts or other parts in machinery.
 Box crab Zool., a crab of the genus Calappa, which, when at rest with the legs retracted, resembles a box.
 Box drain Arch., a drain constructed with upright sides, and with flat top and bottom.
 Box girder Arch., a box beam.
 Box groove Metal Working, a closed groove between two rolls, formed by a collar on one roll fitting between collars on another.  --R. W. Raymond.
 Box metal, an alloy of copper and tin, or of zinc, lead, and antimony, for the bearings of journals, etc.
 Box plait, a plait that doubles both to the right and the left.
 Box turtle or  Box tortoise Zool., a land tortoise or turtle of the genera Cistudo and Emys; -- so named because it can withdraw entirely within its shell, which can be closed by hinged joints in the lower shell. Also, humorously, an exceedingly reticent person.  --Emerson.
 In a box, in a perplexity or an embarrassing position; in difficulty. (Colloq.)
 In the wrong box, out of one's place; out of one's element; awkwardly situated. (Colloq.)  --Ridley (1554)

 Crab n.
 1. Zool. One of the brachyuran Crustacea. They are mostly marine, and usually have a broad, short body, covered with a strong shell or carapace. The abdomen is small and curled up beneath the body.
 Note: ☞ The name is applied to all the Brachyura, and to certain Anomura, as the hermit crabs.  Formerly, it was sometimes applied to Crustacea in general. Many species are edible, the blue crab of the Atlantic coast being one of the most esteemed. The large European edible crab is Cancer padurus. Soft-shelled crabs are blue crabs that have recently cast their shells. See Cancer; also, Box crab, Fiddler crab, Hermit crab, Spider crab, etc., under Box, Fiddler. etc.
 2. The zodiacal constellation Cancer.
 3.  Bot. A crab apple; -- so named from its harsh taste.
 When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
 Then nightly sings the staring owl.   --Shak.
 4. A cudgel made of the wood of the crab tree; a crabstick. [Obs.]
 5. Mech. (a) A movable winch or windlass with powerful gearing, used with derricks, etc. (b) A form of windlass, or geared capstan, for hauling ships into dock, etc. (c) A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn. (d) A claw for anchoring a portable machine.
 Calling crab. Zool. See Fiddler., n., 2.
 Crab apple, a small, sour apple, of several kinds; also, the tree which bears it; as, the European crab apple (Pyrus Malus var. sylvestris); the Siberian crab apple (Pyrus baccata); and the American (Pyrus coronaria).
 Crab grass. Bot. (a) A grass (Digitaria sanguinalis syn. Panicum sanguinalis); -- called also finger grass. (b) A grass of the genus Eleusine (Eleusine Indica); -- called also dog's-tail grass, wire grass, etc.
 Crab louse Zool., a species of louse (Phthirius pubis), sometimes infesting the human body.
 Crab plover Zool., an Asiatic plover (Dromas ardeola).
 Crab's eyes, or Crab's stones, masses of calcareous matter found, at certain seasons of the year, on either side of the stomach of the European crawfishes, and formerly used in medicine for absorbent and antacid purposes; the gastroliths.
 Crab spider Zool., one of a group of spiders (Laterigradæ); -- called because they can run backwards or sideways like a crab.
 Crab tree, the tree that bears crab applies.
 Crab wood, a light cabinet wood obtained in Guiana, which takes a high polish. --McElrath.
 To catch a crab Naut., a phrase used of a rower: (a) when he fails to raise his oar clear of the water; (b) when he misses the water altogether in making a stroke.