Boxing

How to spell boxing

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce boxing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does boxing mean?

1. nounThe sport or activity of fighting with the fists, usually wearing padded gloves.
2. nounThe act of putting items into boxes for storage or transport.

Boxing in a sentence

• He took up boxing to stay fit and learn self-defence.

• We spent the weekend boxing up the house before the move.

• The gym offers boxing classes three evenings a week.

• The warehouse staff handle the boxing and shipping of every order.

Where does boxing come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The noun 'boxing' is built on the verb 'to box', which in turn comes from the older noun 'box' meaning a blow or a buffet, recorded in English from the 1400s; its ultimate origin is uncertain, though some link it to a Middle Dutch or Low German word for a hard knock. From the sense of striking someone, 'box' came to describe trading blows with the fists, and by the early 1700s the activity of fighting with fists had become the sport called 'boxing'. The unrelated container noun 'box' descends from Late Latin buxis, itself from Greek pyxis, a small case turned from boxwood, and that is why packing goods into containers is also called 'boxing'. The two meanings sit on the same modern spelling, so the single x followed by -ing is the only spelling point to watch. Because the verb ends in a consonant sound, the suffix simply adds without doubling, giving the clean form 'boxing'.

How the word is built

• box (a striking blow, or a container)
• -ing (gerund/noun suffix)