noun · 3 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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CMU ARPABET:M AE1 CH B AA2 K S
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A small box, usually a small cardboard box, in which matches are kept.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Any small, die-cast toy car, usually a collectible.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
a box for holding matches
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: box
History
Etymology
From match + box.
By genericization from the die-cast toy car brand Matchbox owned by Mattel, so-called due to the size of the toys to fix in matchboxes.
Across languages
Translations
49 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
vuurhoutjiedosie
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Afrikaans:
vuurhoutjieboksie
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Armenian:
լուցկու տուփ
(lucʻku tupʻ)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Bulgarian:
кутия кибрит
(kutija kibrit)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Chinese Mandarin:
火柴盒
(huǒcháihé)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Danish:
tændstikæske
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Dutch:
luciferdoosje
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Dutch:
luciferdoos
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Esperanto:
alumetskatolo
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Esperanto:
alumetujo
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Estonian:
tikutoos
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Faroese:
svávuldós
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Finnish:
tulitikkurasia
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Finnish:
tulitikkuaski
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
French:
boîte d'allumettes
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
German:
Streichholzschachtel
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Greek:
σπιρτόκουτο
(spirtókouto)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Gujarati:
દીવાસળીની પેટી
(dīvāsaḷīnī peṭī)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Hungarian:
gyufásdoboz
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Hungarian:
gyufásskatulya
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Hungarian:
gyufaskatulya
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Ingrian:
pickapacka
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Irish:
bosca cipíní
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Italian:
scatola di fiammiferi
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Japanese:
マッチ箱
(matchi-bako)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Malay:
kotak mancis
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Malayalam:
തീപ്പെട്ടി
(tīppeṭṭi)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Malayalam:
തീപ്പെട്ടിക്കൂട്
(tīppeṭṭikkūṭŭ)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Manx:
kishtey foaddan
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Māori:
pāki māti
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Norwegian Bokmål:
fyrstikkeske
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Norwegian Nynorsk:
fyrstikkeske
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Persian:
قوطی کبریت
(quti kebrit)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Polish:
pudełko od zapałek
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Portuguese:
caixa de fósforo/fósforos
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Punjabi:
ਡੱਬੀ
(ḍabbī)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Russian:
спи́чечный коробо́к
(spíčečnyj korobók)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Russian:
спи́чечная коро́бка
(spíčečnaja koróbka)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Spanish:
fosforera
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Spanish:
cerillero
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Spanish:
caja de fósforos
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Spanish:
caja de cerillas
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Swedish:
tändsticksask
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Tamil:
தீப்பெட்டி
(tīppeṭṭi)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Thai:
กล่องไม้ขีด
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Tibetan:
ཙག་སྒྲ་སྒམ་ཆུང
(tsag sgra sgam chung)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Tibetan:
མུ་ཟི་སྒམ་ཆུང
(mu zi sgam chung)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Turkish:
kibrit kutusu
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept
Ottoman Turkish:
كبریت قوطیسی
(kibrit kutusu)
— small cardboard box in which matches are kept