noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A small cardboard box in which matches are kept.
2. 2
   Any small, die-cast toy car, usually a collectible.
3. 3
   a box for holding matches wordnet

Example

More examples

"That radio is no bigger than a matchbox."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From match + box.

Etymology 2

From the die-cast toy car brand Matchbox owned by Mattel, so-called due to the size of the toys to fix in matchboxes.

Related phrases

matchbox beanmatchbox housematchbox labelmatchbox signmatchbox skirtdie cast

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.