Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A booth, as in a theater or stadium, where tickets are sold.
  • noun The drawing power of a theatrical entertainment or of a performer; popular appeal.
  • noun A factor influencing this power.
  • noun Total attendance for an entertainment; turnout.
  • noun The amount of money received from ticket sales for an entertainment.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun countable A place where tickets are sold in a theatre/theater or cinema
  • noun uncountable, by extension the total amount of money paid by people worldwide to watch a movie at cinemas/movie theaters.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun total admission receipts for an entertainment
  • noun the office where tickets of admission are sold

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[So named because it was originally an office for the booking of boxes in a theater.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

1786, presumably from sales of boxes, box seats ("separated private seating"). Sense of “total sales” from 1904.

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