pepperbox

[ pep-er-boks ]

noun

1. a small box with perforations in the top, for sprinkling pepper.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pepperbox¹

First recorded in 1540–50; pepper + box ¹

Example Sentences

On the menu now is the Pepperbox, a mezcal- and coffee-liqueur-based drink that uses habanero-pepper ice to make for a gradual, building heat.

From Washington Post

He emptied his revolver at them, missing with every shot but being made “a veritable pepperbox by the guns of his captors,” the Lincoln Evening News reported the next day.

From Washington Times

The Liberator Pepperbox has been upgraded to shoot four bullets and costs a little more.

From New York Times

Near the gate a doleful company of sick and sorry porters squatted and watched a dresser of the Indian Subordinate Medical Department, as he sprinkled iodoform from a pepperbox on to the hideous sores and wounds of a separate squad requiring such treatment. 

From Project Gutenberg

To the north and cast were softened bosky woods, and dominating all, one of those antique castellated châteaux with pepperbox towers and gilded vanes, such as he had seen in pictures or read of in some books.

From Project Gutenberg