get one's shine box

verb

Used as an insult.

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Meanings

verbget one's shine box (third-person singular simple present gets one's shine box, present participle getting one's shine box, simple past got one's shine box, past participle (UK) got one's shine box or (US) gotten one's shine box)

present singular third person gets one's shine box · participle present getting one's shine box · past got one's shine box · UK participle past got one's shine box · US participle past gotten one's shine box · alternative get one's shinebox

  1. idiomaticslangUsed as an insult.

    Make note of his stubby fingers and small hands – we all know what that means. When he responds with ever-increasing insults and shushing, tell him to go get his shinebox.

    2016 February 16, Ben Domenech, “At Tonight’s Debate, Take a Flamethrower to Trump”, in The Federalist (blog)

Origin

Popularized by the movie Goodfellas (1990), where the character William "Billy Batts" Bentvena uses the phrase in an insulting allusion to Tommy DeVito's previous job as a shoeshiner.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

get one's shine box. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20one's%20shine%20box

MLA

“get one's shine box.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20one's%20shine%20box. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “get one's shine box,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/get%20one's%20shine%20box.

Source: get one's shine box on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.