dispatch box

== English == === Alternative forms === despatch box === Etymology === From dispatch (“important official message sent by a diplomat, government official, military officer, etc.”) +‎ box. Sense 2 (“box placed on a table in a legislative debating chamber and used as a lectern”) is from the fact that in the Parliament of the United Kingdom dispatch boxes used by ministers and other Members of Parliament to carry important documents (sense 1) were formerly used as lecterns; these have generally been replaced by cases, usually made of wood, specifically made to be used as lecterns. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /dɪˈspætʃ ˌbɒks/ (General American) IPA(key): /dəˈspætʃ ˌbɑks/ Hyphenation: dis‧patch box === Noun === dispatch box (plural dispatch boxes) A box or case with a lock that is used for carrying dispatches (“important official messages”) and other documents. Synonyms: dispatch case, ministerial box (Commonwealth, politics) A box that is placed on a table in a legislative debating chamber and used as a lectern for addressing the legislature. ==== Usage notes ==== Sense 2 (“a box placed on a table in a legislative debating chamber and used as a lectern”) is often used in the phrase at the dispatch box, which means when addressing the legislature. ==== Translations ==== ==== See also ==== === Further reading === despatch box on Wikipedia.Wikipedia “dispatch-box, n.” under “dispatch | despatch, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2022. “dispatch box, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.