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Dispatch box
Definitions
- 1 A box or case with a lock that is used for carrying dispatches (“important official messages”) and other documents.
"Ministers are permitted to use ordinary lockable briefcases to transport information which has been classified 'Confidential' or below. For information with a higher security level (such as 'Secret') they are required to use dispatch boxes, which offer a higher level of security, and which are usually red. However a travel version of the despatch box is also available in black, which offers the same level of security as a red despatch box, but is designed to be less conspicuous. In practice Ministers use despatch boxes for transporting the majority of their documents due to the greater level of security they offer."
- 2 case consisting of an oblong container (usually having a lock) for carrying dispatches or other valuables wordnet
- 3 A box that is placed on a table in a legislative debating chamber and used as a lectern for addressing the legislature. Commonwealth
"It was about the only attempt at humour Raymond had made at the dispatch box that year, which may have been the reason so few members laughed."
Etymology
From dispatch (“important official message sent by a diplomat, government official, military officer, etc.”) + box. Sense 2 (“box placed on a table in a legislative debating chamber and used as a lectern”) is from the fact that in the Parliament of the United Kingdom dispatch boxes used by ministers and other Members of Parliament to carry important documents (sense 1) were formerly used as lecterns; these have generally been replaced by cases, usually made of wood, specifically made to be used as lecterns.
See also for "dispatch box"
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Unscramble this word: dispatchbox