Meaning & use
strongbox
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Meaning
nouncountable
A small, heavy, lockable container in which valuables or important papers are kept safe.
Grammar: Countable: a strongbox, several strongboxes. Often followed by for or of: a strongbox of coins.
Patterns
- lock something in a strongbox
- a strongbox for something
- a strongbox full of something
She kept the family jewels in a strongbox under her bed.
The captain's strongbox held the crew's wages.
Police found a strongbox hidden behind the wall panel.
Word forms
| plural | strongboxes |
|---|
Common combinations
- a locked strongbox
- A locked strongbox sat on the shelf of the study.
- open a strongbox
- It took the locksmith ten minutes to open the strongbox.
- a fireproof strongbox
- We keep our passports in a fireproof strongbox.
- hide a strongbox
- The thief did not know where the owner had hidden the strongbox.
- a strongbox full of
- The attic held a strongbox full of old letters.
Synonyms and how they differ
- safe
- A safe is usually built into a wall or floor or is very heavy, whereas a strongbox is a smaller container that can often be carried.
- coffer
- Coffer is an older, literary word for a chest of valuables and suggests treasure or a treasury.
- lockbox
- Lockbox is the common American word for a small locked container, especially one for documents or a spare key.
- safe-deposit box
- A safe-deposit box is a compartment rented inside a bank vault, not something you keep at home.
Word family
Commonly confused: strongbox or stronghold?
strongbox vs stronghold
A stronghold is a fortified place or a place where a cause is strongly supported. It is not a container.
Practice
Which item is most likely to be kept in a strongbox?
Choose one answer.
A strongbox protects valuables and key documents, so a property deed fits. The other items need no secure, locked storage.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “strongbox”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.