dice-box

See also: dice box and dicebox

English

Noun

dice-box (plural dice-boxes)

1. Dated form of dicebox.
   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Morality of Diamonds”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 24:

     […] in the very hall through which a coffin had late passed, were heard the jingling of glasses and the rattle of the dice-box.

   • 1844 January–December, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “Barry Bids Adieu to the Military Profession”, in “The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. [The Luck of Barry Lyndon.]”, in Miscellanies: Prose and Verse, volume III, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1856, →OCLC, page 113:

     For there is a sort of chivalry among the knights of the dice-box: the fame of great players is known all over Europe.

   • 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, “I Make another Beginning”, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC, page 155:

     I was greatly elated by these orders; but my heart smote me for my selfishness, when I witnessed their effect on Mr. Dick, who was so low-spirited at the prospect of our separation, and played so ill in consequence, that my aunt, after giving him several admonitory raps on the knuckles with her dice-box, shut up the board, and declined to play with him any more.

   • 1975 May 13, Rex McVitty, “Rex’s Name Dropping Wasn’t So Deluxe”, in Sarasota Journal, volume 23, number 261, Sarasota, Fla., →OCLC, page 15-A, column 6:

     The dice are thrown on a table or other smooth surface, either from the hand or from a dice-box depending on what game you are playing.