boxing

1. 1
   noununcountable

   A sport in which two opponents punch each other with gloved fists to the head and torso, aiming to score more points by the round's end or to win by knockout or technical knockout.

   She trains in boxing three nights a week at a local gym.

   The crowd roared as the boxing match went the full twelve rounds.

   Similarpugilism, prizefighting

   Note

   Grammatically a mass noun: you take up boxing or watch boxing, but a single contest is a boxing match, never "a boxing". The word works freely as a modifier, as in boxing match, boxing gym and boxing gloves. In describing results, the sport keeps three outcomes distinct: a win on points, a win by knockout, and a win by technical knockout.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of box.

   She is boxing her way up the regional rankings this season.

   Boxing for the national team demands constant discipline and training.

   Note

   One spelling, two different verbs. Boxing an opponent comes from box "to punch". Packing goods into crates, hemming a rival in, mixing paint to match, or boarding over pipes is boxing from the container verb. When the meaning is cornering someone, that verb is usually followed by in: boxing a runner in. As a gerund it shades into the name of the sport, since boxing for a team is simply practicing it.

3. 3
   noununcountable

   Material used for making boxes or protective casing.

   Sturdy boxing protected the china during the long shipment overseas.

   The warehouse stocks several grades of boxing for export crates.

   Similarpackaging

4. 4
   noununcountable

   An enclosing cover built around an object or around part of a building's structure.

   Carpenters fitted neat boxing around the exposed beams in the hallway.

   The eaves received fresh boxing during the renovation.

   Similarcasing, cladding, encasement

   Note

   Builders use it for the finished result of boxing something in: boarding or lathing fitted around pipes, beams or eaves to hide them or give them a required shape. It names the casing once it is in place. That separates it from the raw material, which is stock waiting to be made into boxes. Carpenters fit boxing, and eaves receive it.

5. 5
   noununcountable

   The automatic conversion of a value type into an object by wrapping it inside a heap-allocated reference type.

   Frequent boxing of integers inside the loop hurt the program's performance.

   The compiler inserts boxing automatically when a value type is assigned to an object variable.

   Oppositeunboxing

   Note

   A programmer's metaphor taken straight from the container: a plain value such as an integer is placed in a box on the heap so that it can be handled as an object. Because the compiler inserts it silently, it is easy to overlook. Inside a busy loop, those hidden allocations can slow a program down. The reverse step, taking the value back out, is called unboxing.

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