Standard Lemma guide

letterbox

adj · noun · verb · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adj

Meaning 1

Transferred to home video formats while preserving the original aspect ratio, having black bars above and below the picture area.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

Topics: broadcasting, film, media, television

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A box into which mail is put.

A collection point for mail intended for onward delivery, a secure box or receptacle for this purpose.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mailbox, post box, pillar box

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A box into which mail is put.

A delivery point for mail, a box, compartment or slot for this purpose.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Commonwealth, Ireland, UK

Examples

  • A wad of junk mail was pushed through the letterbox in the front door and dropped onto the mat.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mailbox, mail slot

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A hidden container that holds a logbook and rubber stamp, found by following clues as a form of recreation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A rectangular hole or slot.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: hobbies, lifestyle, mountaineering, sports

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To transfer a widescreen motion picture to home video formats while preserving the original aspect ratio, with the placing of black bars above and below the picture area.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

Topics: broadcasting, film, media, television

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To hunt for letterboxes (containers with logbook and rubber stamp) by following clues.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: intransitive, transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From letter + box.

Across languages

Translations

130 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Hindi: लेटरबॉक्स (leṭarbŏks) — transferred to home video formats
  • Japanese: レッターボックス (rettābokkusu) — transferred to home video formats
  • Marathi: लेटरबॉक्स (leṭarbŏksa) — transferred to home video formats
  • Polish: dostosowany do techniki letterbox — transferred to home video formats
  • Arabic: صُنْدُوق بَرِيد (ṣundūq barīd) — collection point for mail
  • Arabic: صَنْدُوق بَرِيد (ṣandūq barīd) — collection point for mail
  • Armenian: փոստարկղ (pʻostarkġ) — collection point for mail
  • Azerbaijani: poçt qutusu — collection point for mail
  • Belarusian: пашто́вая скры́ня (paštóvaja skrýnja) — collection point for mail
  • Belarusian: пашто́вая скры́нка (paštóvaja skrýnka) — collection point for mail
  • Bulgarian: по́щенска кути́я (póštenska kutíja) — collection point for mail
  • Burmese: စာပုံး (capum:) — collection point for mail
  • Catalan: bústia — collection point for mail
  • Chinese Cantonese: 郵箱 /邮箱 (jau4 soeng1) — collection point for mail
  • Chinese Mandarin: 郵箱 /邮箱 (yóuxiāng) — collection point for mail
  • Czech: poštovní schránka — collection point for mail
  • Danish: postkasse — collection point for mail
  • Dutch: brievenbus — collection point for mail
  • Esperanto: leterkesto — collection point for mail
  • Estonian: postkast — collection point for mail
  • Faroese: postkassi — collection point for mail
  • Faroese: brævkassi — collection point for mail
  • Finnish: kirjelaatikko — collection point for mail
  • French: boîte aux lettres — collection point for mail
  • French: boite aux lettres — collection point for mail
  • Georgian: საფოსტო ყუთი (saposṭo q̇uti) — collection point for mail
  • German: Briefkasten — collection point for mail
  • German: Postkasten — collection point for mail
  • German: Postbriefkasten — collection point for mail
  • Greek: γραμματοκιβώτιο (grammatokivótio) — collection point for mail
  • Greenlandic: allakkanut nakkartitsisarfik — collection point for mail
  • Hindi: लेटरबॉक्स (leṭarbŏks) — collection point for mail
  • Hindi: पत्र पेटिका (patra peṭikā) — collection point for mail
  • Hungarian: postaláda — collection point for mail
  • Indonesian: bis surat — collection point for mail
  • Irish: bosca poist — collection point for mail
  • Italian: buca delle lettere — collection point for mail
  • Kazakh: пошта жәшігі (poşta jäşıgı) — collection point for mail
  • Korean: 우체통 (uchetong) — collection point for mail
  • Kyrgyz: почта жашиги (pocta jaşigi) — collection point for mail
  • Lao: ຕູ້ໄປສະນີ (tū pai sa nī) — collection point for mail
  • Latvian: pastkastīte — collection point for mail
  • Lithuanian: pašto dėžutė — collection point for mail
  • Lü: ᦷᦂᧅᧈᦟᦻ (k̇ok1laay) — collection point for mail
  • Macedonian: поштенско сандаче (poštensko sandače) — collection point for mail
  • Malay: peti pos — collection point for mail
  • Norwegian Bokmål: postkasse — collection point for mail
  • Iranian Persian: صَنْدوقِ پُسْت (sanduġ-e post) — collection point for mail
  • Polish: skrzynka pocztowa — collection point for mail
  • Portuguese: caixa de correio — collection point for mail
  • Romanian: cutie poștală — collection point for mail
  • Russian: почто́вый я́щик (počtóvyj jáščik) — collection point for mail
  • Serbo-Croatian: poštansko sanduče — collection point for mail
  • Serbo-Croatian: poštanski sandučić — collection point for mail
  • Slovak: poštová schránka — collection point for mail
  • Slovene: poštni nabiralnik — collection point for mail
  • Spanish: buzón — collection point for mail
  • Swedish: brevlåda — collection point for mail
  • Tagalog: buson — collection point for mail
  • Tajik: қуттии почта (qutti-yi počta) — collection point for mail
  • Thai: ตู้ไปรษณีย์ (dtûu-bprai-sà-nii) — collection point for mail
  • Ukrainian: пошто́ва скри́нька (poštóva skrýnʹka) — collection point for mail
  • Urdu: صَندُوقِ بَرِید (sandūq-i barīd) — collection point for mail
  • Uzbek: pochta qutisi — collection point for mail
  • Vietnamese: thùng thư — collection point for mail
  • Vietnamese: hòm thư — collection point for mail
  • Vietnamese: hòm thư đi — collection point for mail
  • Welsh: blwch llythyrau — collection point for mail
  • Armenian: փոստարկղ (pʻostarkġ) — delivery point for mail
  • Azerbaijani: poçt qutusu — delivery point for mail
  • Belarusian: пашто́вая скры́ня (paštóvaja skrýnja) — delivery point for mail
  • Belarusian: пашто́вая скры́нка (paštóvaja skrýnka) — delivery point for mail
  • Belarusian: лісто́ўня (listównja) — delivery point for mail
  • Bulgarian: по́щенска кути́я (póštenska kutíja) — delivery point for mail
  • Burmese: စာပုံး (capum:) — delivery point for mail
  • Catalan: bústia — delivery point for mail
  • Chinese Cantonese: 信箱 (seon3 soeng1) — delivery point for mail
  • Chinese Mandarin: 信箱 (xìnxiāng) — delivery point for mail
  • Czech: poštovní schránka — delivery point for mail
  • Danish: postkasse — delivery point for mail
  • Dutch: brievenbus — delivery point for mail
  • Esperanto: leterkesto — delivery point for mail
  • Estonian: postkast — delivery point for mail
  • Faroese: brævkassi — delivery point for mail
  • Faroese: postkassi — delivery point for mail
  • Finnish: kirjelaatikko — delivery point for mail
  • French: boîte aux lettres — delivery point for mail
  • French: boite aux lettres — delivery point for mail
  • Georgian: საფოსტო ყუთი (saposṭo q̇uti) — delivery point for mail
  • German: Briefkasten — delivery point for mail
  • German: Hausbriefkasten — delivery point for mail
  • Greek: γραμματοκιβώτιο (grammatokivótio) — delivery point for mail
  • Greenlandic: allakkanut nakkartitsisarfik — delivery point for mail
  • Hindi: लेटरबॉक्स (leṭarbŏks) — delivery point for mail
  • Hindi: पत्र पेटिका (patra peṭikā) — delivery point for mail
  • Hungarian: postaláda — delivery point for mail
  • Hungarian: levélszekrény — delivery point for mail
  • Icelandic: pósthólf — delivery point for mail
  • Irish: bosca litreacha — delivery point for mail
  • Italian: cassetta per le lettere — delivery point for mail
  • Japanese: 郵便受け (yūbin'uke) — delivery point for mail
  • Korean: 우편함 (upyeonham) — delivery point for mail
  • Lao: ຕູ້ໄປສະນີ (tū pai sa nī) — delivery point for mail
  • Macedonian: поштенско сандаче (poštensko sandače) — delivery point for mail
  • Norman: boête à lettres — delivery point for mail
  • Norwegian Bokmål: postkasse — delivery point for mail
  • Polish: skrzynka pocztowa — delivery point for mail
  • Portuguese: caixa de correio — delivery point for mail
  • Romanian: cutie poștală — delivery point for mail
  • Russian: почто́вый я́щик (počtóvyj jáščik) — delivery point for mail
  • Scottish Gaelic: bogsa-litrichean — delivery point for mail
  • Scottish Gaelic: toll-litrichean — delivery point for mail
  • Slovak: poštová schránka — delivery point for mail
  • Slovene: nabiralnik — delivery point for mail
  • Slovene: poštni nabiralnik — delivery point for mail
  • Spanish: buzón — delivery point for mail
  • Swedish: postlåda — delivery point for mail
  • Swedish: brevlåda — delivery point for mail
  • Tajik: қуттии почта (qutti-yi počta) — delivery point for mail
  • Thai: ตู้ไปรษณีย์ (dtûu-bprai-sà-nii) — delivery point for mail
  • Turkish: posta kutusu — delivery point for mail
  • Ukrainian: пошто́ва скри́нька (poštóva skrýnʹka) — delivery point for mail
  • Uzbek: pochta qutisi — delivery point for mail
  • Vietnamese: hòm thư — delivery point for mail
  • Vietnamese: hộp thư — delivery point for mail
  • Vietnamese: hòm thư đến — delivery point for mail
  • Vietnamese: hòm thư cá nhân — delivery point for mail
  • Vietnamese: hộp thư cá nhân — delivery point for mail
  • Welsh: blwch llythyrau — delivery point for mail
  • Welsh: bocs postio — delivery point for mail