jewel boxn.adj.
/ˈdʒuː(ə)l bɒks/, U.S. /ˈdʒu(ə)l ˌbɑks/ A. n.
1.
a. A box or similar container in which jewellery is kept, typically an ornamental one, often comprising several sections or compartments for storing different items. Cf. jewellery box n. at jewellery n. Compounds 2.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > types of ornamentation > jewellery > [noun] > storage for jewellery
jewel box1562
baggier1578
ring-stand1697
jewellery box1773
jewel bag1853
jewellery bag1855
1562 tr. J. Jewel Apol. Church Eng. f. 53v Shall the whole treasure of wisedome and vnderstanding be found in him as it were in a iewel box [L. scrinio]?
1647 Perfect Occurr. Parl. No. 6. 43 He found the lock broken off, some empty Jewel-boxes in it, a little Jewel in a corner of the Trunk, and some empty baggs.
1727 M. Delany Autobiogr. & Corr. (1861) I. 135 A jewel box which Mrs Tillier desires you to accept as her fairing.
1831 Society 1 169 Her ladyship's jewel-box, which was ostentatiously produced, was exhibited.
1909 E. P. Stewart Let. 28 Sept. in Atlantic Monthly (1913) 443 Fancy to yourself a big jewel-box of dark green velvet lined with silver chiffon.
2002 Globe & Mail (Canada) (Nexis) 9 Feb. l.2 This red leather heart-shaped jewel box. Lined in beige velvet and closed with a button snap.
b. figurative. Anything likened to a jewel box in being particularly beautiful or ornate; esp. an exquisite or lavishly decorated building or room.
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the mind > attention and judgement > beauty > [noun] > beautiful thing or person
fairnesseOE
roseOE
beautya1425
beauteous1435
lovelyc1450
beautifulness?1574
picturea1645
formosity1652
speciosity1660
vision1823
dream1837
jewel box1846
firecracker1852
beaut1896
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > types of building generally > [noun] > ornamental building
pavilion1616
terminary1759
pagoda1789
grottoa1845
jewel box1846
ting1853
1846 Economist 11 Apr. 474/1 Right merrily does the spirited lessee of this ‘jewel-box’ of a theatre proceed on his path.
1877 G. MacDonald Marquis of Lossie I. xxv. 158 He had the cabin thoroughly fitted up, with all the luxuries it had formerly possessed, and as many more as he could think of..a very jewel-box for softness and richness and comfort.
1951 C. Beaton Diary 28 July in Self Portrait with Friends (1979) xvii. 229 The welcome at the familiar hotel was warm, as it was, too, at the jewel-box of the little Theatre Royal.
2019 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 17 Feb. (Style section) 189 A ladies' powder room is a tented pink-on-pink chandeliered jewel box.
2. Frequently with distinguishing word. Any of the marine bivalve molluscs constituting the family Chamidae, which have robust shells with a rough or spiny surface (also more fully jewel box clam). Also: the shell itself.
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1925 Nature Mag. Aug. 83/3 He is a small but chunky rock oyster... A close kin, nicknamed ‘jewel-box’, is a tiny, pink fellow, like a dainty sea-fairy's casket.
1954 R. T. Abbott Amer. Seashells Plate 37 (caption) Jewel boxes... Little corrugated jewel box, Chama congregata... Cherry jewel box, Chama florida... True spiny jewel box, Echinochama arcinella.
1978 Ecology 59 679 The jewel box clam, Chama pellucida, lives attached to shallow marine rock surfaces.
2009 R. L. Lippson & A. J. Lippson Life Along Inner Coast vi. 203/1 Unfortunately, most leafy jewel boxes that tumble ashore have lost their distinctive leafy projections.
3. A shallow, hard plastic case in which a CD is packaged or stored, consisting of two transparent halves hinged together at one side, the front half being designed to hold a square cover or booklet and the back half containing a tray which receives the disc and holds it in place. Also: (in earlier use) a similar smaller case for a cassette tape. Cf. jewel case n. 2.
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1981 Billboard 26 Dec. 5/3 Geffen Testing Cassette Wrap... Geffen is issuing the label debut album for Sammy Hagar in a conventional Philips ‘jewel’ box.
1983 Stereo Rev. Aug. 5/1 Each CD, in its now-standard small ‘jewel box’, will be issued in a 6 X 12-inch display pack along with notes and artwork.
2003 Guardian 23 Oct. (Friday Review section) 28/5 As artefacts, the new CDs feel seductively beautiful. Their well-finished gatefold digipaks make the old jewel boxes seem cheap and clumsy.
B. adj. (attributive).
Esp. with reference to architecture, interior design, etc.: that resembles a jewel box; beautifully or lavishly designed or decorated; exquisite; gorgeous. Cf. sense A. 1b.
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1932 Escanaba (Michigan) Daily Press 26 Apr. 4/5 He shut the door, leaving the boy and girl alone in the jewel box interior of that fabulous motor car.
1989 N.Y. Times 7 Sept. c1/1 They create interiors of jewel-box elegance.
2010 N.Y. Mag. (Nexis) 4 Jan. The polished room has a bright, jewel-box quality.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2019; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1562