lunchbox

See also: lunch box and lunch-box

English

A group of workers eating lunch in 1943; some lunchboxes are visible near the center of the photo

Alternative forms

• lunch box, lunch-box

Etymology

From lunch +‎ box.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlʌntʃˌbɒks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: lunch‧box

Noun

lunchbox (plural lunchboxes)

1. A container for transporting meals, especially lunch.

   Hyponyms: bento box, lunch bucket, lunch pail

   • 2025 November 6, Dan Mangan, quoting Sabrina Shroff, “DC sandwich thrower Sean Dunn found not guilty of assaulting federal agent”, in CNBC‎^[1]:

     “If someone assaulted you, if someone offended you, would you keep a memento of their assault? Would you stick it on your daily lunchbox and carry it with you day in and day out?” she asked.

2. (slang, UK) The penis when enclosed in clothing.

   Synonyms: (US) basket, packet, package

   • 2015, Encarnación Gutiérrez Rodríguez, Shirley Anne Tate, Creolizing Europe: Legacies and Transformations, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 109:

     The campaign tagline, 'I've got a tiny packet', is written across [Linford] Christie's trademark impressively muscled upper body. 'Tiny packet' makes us remember that Linford is known for his 'lunchbox' from his heyday as a sprinter because of the bulge apparent in his lycra shorts. His lunchbox and now his tiny packet allude to the diminishing of black men to just their genitals […]

4. (especially Asia) A lunch packaged in a disposable box to be taken away to eat.

   Synonym: box lunch

   Jack was carrying his lunchbox with him.

5. (computing, slang) A luggable; an early laptop computer, usually a unit with a handle and a fold-out keyboard.
   • 1988 October 11, PC Mag, volume 7, number 17, page 93:

     You'll find a mix among clamshell laptops for strong laps, lunchboxes, and sewing-machine configurations; the latter two designs typically have detachable keyboards.

   • 2004, Scott Mueller, Upgrading and Repairing Laptops, page 20:

     The performance difference between desktops and lunchboxes was practically nil.

6. (slang) A simple portable transmitter sometimes used in phreaking.
7. A cocktail made with beer, orange juice, and almond liqueur.
8. (slang, idiomatic) A person seen as weak and disposable who could easily be sacrificed without much guilt or afterthought. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

• lunchbox Democrat

Translations

container for transporting meals

• Afrikaans: kosblik
• Arabic: صندوق الغداء
• Catalan: carmanyola (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 飯盒 / 饭盒 (zh) (fànhé)

• Dutch: broodtrommel (nl), broodtrommeltje (nl) n
• Esperanto: lunĉujo, manĝoskatolo
• Finnish: lounasrasia, eväsrasia
• French: panier repas
• German: Brotzeitdose f, Brotdose (de) f
• Greek: φαγητοδοχείο n (fagitodocheío)
• Hungarian: uzsonnás doboz
• Icelandic: nestisbox (is) n
• Japanese: 弁当箱 (ja) (bentōbako), お弁当箱 (obentōbako)
• Korean: 도시락 (ko) (dosirak) (South Korea), 벤토 (bento) (South Korea, archaic), 벤또 (ko) (bentto) (North Korea, Yanbian, Jeolla dialect or dated), 변또 (byeontto) (dialectal, obsolete), 곽밥 (ko) (gwakbap) (North Korea), 밥곽 (ko) (bapgwak) (North Korea), 찬합(饌盒) (ko) (chanhap)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: matboks (no) m

  Nynorsk: matboks m

• Polish: pojemnik na obiad m
• Portuguese: lancheira (pt) f, merendeira (pt) f, marmita (pt) f
• Russian: тормозо́к (ru) m (tormozók), ланчбо́кс m (lančbóks), ланч-бо́кс m (lanč-bóks), коро́бка для за́втраков f (koróbka dlja závtrakov)
• Spanish: fiambrera (es) f, tartera (es) f, portaviandas m (lunch pail), lonchera (es) f, portacomidas m (lunch pail)
• Swedish: matlåda (sv) c, lunchlåda (sv) c
• Tagalog: baunan
• Thai: ข้าวกล่อง
• Vietnamese: hộp cơm
• Welsh: tun bwyd m (NW), bocs bwyd m (South)

male genitals enclosed in clothing

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 包 (zh)

• German: Gehänge (de) n
• Italian: pacco (it) m
• Korean: 도시락 (ko) (dosirak)
• Polish: krocze (pl) n
• Spanish: paquete (es) m

Anagrams

• box lunch