sandbox
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A plaything made up of a pile of sand or a box filled with sand for children to play in.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
sandbahksSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈsændbɑks
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
USCanada
A plaything consisting of a pile of sand or a box filled with sand for children to play in
computing
An isolated area where a program can be executed with a restricted portion of the resources available.
Mold consisting of a box with sand shaped to mold metal
A box filled with sand that is shaped to form a mould for metal casting.
wiki jargon
A page on a wiki where users are free to experiment without destroying or damaging any legitimate content.
A container for sand or pounce, used historically before blotting paper.
verb
by extensiontransitiveintransitive
To brainstorm; to prototype.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A plaything consisting of a pile of sand or a box filled with sand for children to play in
Used this way, sandbox is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Nearby words
- sandpile , rarer, so it draws attention
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use sandbox
- “The kids spent all afternoon playing happily in the sandbox at the park.”noun
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: plaything consisting of a pile of sand
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.