box number

noun

A numerical address for postal correspondence, managed by a company or organisation on behalf of the addressee, and used e.g. for convenience, if one does not have a suitable physical address for receiving mail, or to avoid giving one's real address (e.g. in a newspaper advertisement).

“They didn't give me a proper address, only a box number.”

Similar
post-office box numberPO box numberPO Box No
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Meanings

nounbox number (plural box numbers)

plural box numbers · alternative abbreviation common box no.

  1. A numerical address for postal correspondence, managed by a company or organisation on behalf of the addressee, and used e.g. for convenience, if one does not have a suitable physical address for receiving mail, or to avoid giving one's real address (e.g. in a newspaper advertisement).

    They didn't give me a proper address, only a box number.

    1 more example

    Would anyone with knowledge of the present whereabouts of Mrs Doris Miggins, formerly of Station Road, please contact Box No. 99, Puddletown Evening Gazette.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounthe number of a letter box at the post office where mail is collected

Similar
post-office box numberPO box numberPO Box No
Broader
mailing address

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Literally, the number of a box into which mail for a particular recipient is placed.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

box number. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/box%20number

MLA

“box number.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/box%20number. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “box number,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/box%20number.

Source: box number on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.