box office

noun

1

a

: an office (as in a theater) where tickets of admission are sold

b

: income from ticket sales (as for a film)

2

: the ability (as of a show) to attract ticket buyers

also : something that enhances that ability

any publicity is good box office

Examples of box office in a Sentence

The box office will open at 10:00 a.m.

Recent Examples on the Web

The film broke records for the best box office performance for a biopic in North America in its opening weekend and made $314 million worldwide in its first weekend in theaters. —Staff Author, PEOPLE, 27 Apr. 2026

Hollywood may not save all its blockbusters for the hottest months anymore, but the 18 week corridor running from the first weekend in May through Labor Day remains the industry’s most important, accounting for around 40% of the year’s box office. —ABC News, 27 Apr. 2026

Now that’s a box office thriller. —Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 27 Apr. 2026

The decision to remove references to the allegations was also reportedly influenced by concerns that including them could hurt the film’s box office performance. —Lexi Carson, HollywoodReporter, 25 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1741, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for box office

• interoffice

Kids Definition

box office

noun

: an office in a public place (as a theater or stadium) where admission tickets are sold