box stepn.
/ˈbɒks stɛp/, U.S. /ˈbɑks ˌstɛp/ 1. In singular and plural: a set of steps leading to a theatre box, coach box, signal box, etc. Now rare.
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1795 T. Wilkinson Wandering Patentee III. 141 At the bottom of the box steps I was saluted by my Cockney coachman.
1828 Melodist & Mirthful Olio I. 260 She climbed the box step, step by step, Until she reached the top, And then she took the whip in hand, The reins he soon let drop.
1865 Flag of Our Union 18 Nov. 722/2 ‘How are you..!’ cried the driver, as he reined his panting steeds up to the door, and, winding the lines round the box step, got down.
1948 Railway Gaz. 19 Nov. 588/1 The signalman there asked what had become of the passenger train, so he went to the foot of the box steps and looked both ways but could see no lights.
2. A hollow, enclosed (usually wooden) step resembling a box in construction; (in plural) a staircase composed of such steps, or constructed in a similar manner (cf. box stair n. at box n.2 Compounds 6).
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society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > other types of stairs or staircase
fore-stair1622
well stairs1669
flyer?1677
French flyers1728
well staircase1729
bed-steps1833
bracket-stair1842
bracket-staircase1842
kitchen stair1844
stair-tree1848
box step1852
box staircase1875
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > stairs > [noun] > step > step with closed strings
box step1852
box stair1881
1852 Jrnl. Proc. 1st Branch City Council Baltimore 9 A petition from Jacob N. Shreck, asking permission to extend the box steps in front of his dwelling.
1890 Northwestern Reporter 45 1169/2 He saw plaintiff descending from the car steps to the box step, and saw her fall.
1909 Attica (Indiana) Daily Ledger 30 Nov. 8/3 The passenger is aided in reaching the car steps by a movable box step placed by the brake man.
1974 S. Wilson et al. New Orleans Archit. IV. 120/1 Cottages set at the banquette line and raised a few feet from the ground..produced a need for the box steps so commonly observed.
2019 Impact News Service (Nexis) 2 Oct. Around 600 metres of walkway has been resurfaced and improved with new timber box steps, culverts and drainage.
3. A dance step in which the feet trace the outline of a square or rectangle.
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society > leisure > dancing > movements or steps > [noun] > step > other steps
reprise1521
double1531
reprinse1531
single1531
hop1579
cross-pointa1592
trip1601
back-tricka1616
inturna1627
shorta1652
coupee1673
cut1676
fleuret1677
bourrée step or pas de bourrée1706
contretemps1706
cross-step1728
boring1775
pigeon wing1807
pas de basque1818
cross-cut1842
flicflac1852
buckle-covering1859
reverse1888
reversing1892
cross-stepping1893
box step1914
jump turn1924
moonwalk1969
coupé-
1914 Canton (Ohio) Daily News 21 June 5/3 The one step has a brand new movement, a box step in which the dancers describe some kind of a rectangular enclosure.
1917 Ludington (Mich.) Daily News 14 Dec. 3/1 The fox trot of this season being featured by the box step and the pivot.
1935 Lowell (Mass.) Sun 18 Mar. 5/4 Get a fox-trot on the radio and try just walking in that tempo... Then try side steps and box steps.
2008 C. Rivenbark Belle Weather xix. 164 It took me at least six months to learn the box step.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2021; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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