snuffbox

American  

[snuhf-boks] / ˈsnʌfˌbɒks /

noun

1. a box for holding snuff, especially one small enough to be carried in the pocket.

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snuffbox British  

/ ˈsnʌfˌbɒks /

noun

1. a container, often of elaborate ornamental design, for holding small quantities of snuff

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Etymology

Origin of snuffbox

First recorded in 1680–90; snuff ¹ + box ¹

Example Sentences

Viewers will see The Queen Consort present a rare snuffbox from the Royal Collection made from Cornish silver, and a copy of Elegy in A Country Churchyard by poet Thomas Gray.

From BBC • Mar. 5, 2023

Lithwick: Give us an example, because I think that we understood the snuffbox and the horse.

From Slate • May 2, 2017

The Continental Congress in 1786 had consented, after a debate, to Franklin keeping the snuffbox, as it had earlier with a similar gift to envoy Arthur Lee.

From Salon • Dec. 3, 2016

“Then he would show you a snuffbox made for Louis XIV and wrapped for years in an old rag, something he just simply had to have and couldn’t live without.”

From New York Times • Apr. 11, 2014

It was a gesture which, if anyone had still thought in such terms, might have recalled an eighteenth-century nobleman offering his snuffbox.

From "1984" by George Orwell