in-basketn.
In an office, etc.: a basket or tray for incoming correspondence and other documents. Cf. in-tray n.Sometimes written as two separate words with in regarded adjectivally.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > receptacle or container > box > [noun] > tray > for papers or correspondence
in-basket1940
out-basket1940
in-tray1941
out-tray1943
pending tray1955
pending basket1957
in-box1958
1940 Amer. Speech 15 247 His incoming mail is put in an in-basket.
1948 ‘N. Shute’ No Highway v. 130 I sighed and pulled my IN basket towards me, full of the arrears of work.
1957 J. Braine Room at Top xxviii. 217 My in-basket was full.
1970 New Yorker 26 Sept. 40/3 She sat down beside him with pencil and paper and let him churn up the contents of his ‘in’ and ‘out’ baskets.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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n.1940