shoebox
noun
shoe·box
ˈshü-ˌbäks 
variants
or less commonly shoe box
1
: a box that shoes are sold in
a shoebox full of old photographs
2
: a small space and especially a small living space
The loft, almost an hour from her house by tube, is a shoebox with 18-foot ceilings, white and blue, with odds and ends of mismatched furniture …—
Michael Kimmelman
—often used before another nounMichael Kimmelmana shoebox apartment
Since commercial real estate was cheaper, art galleries and Off Off Off Broadway theaters could spring up in shoebox storefronts.—James Wolcott
James WolcottExamples of shoebox in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The shoes arrive in specially co-branded packaging consisting of dustbags, a shoebox and a tissue liner.
—Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 19 May 2026
Luckily, this compact Keurig is smaller than a shoebox.
—Sian Babish, PEOPLE, 9 May 2026
If new graduates can bear being stuck in a shoebox apartment, New York and San Francisco are still hotspots for hiring.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 6 May 2026
Spaeny and Melton, meanwhile, play Ashley Miller and Austin Davis, a young couple roughing it in a shoebox apartment over-the-moon in love with one another.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for shoebox
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Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 19 May 2026
Luckily, this compact Keurig is smaller than a shoebox.
—Sian Babish, PEOPLE, 9 May 2026
If new graduates can bear being stuck in a shoebox apartment, New York and San Francisco are still hotspots for hiring.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 6 May 2026
Spaeny and Melton, meanwhile, play Ashley Miller and Austin Davis, a young couple roughing it in a shoebox apartment over-the-moon in love with one another.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for shoebox
Cite this Entry
“Shoebox.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoebox. Accessed 29 May. 2026.
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