▪ I. boxer1
(ˈbɒksə(r))
[f. box v.1 + -er1.]
One who puts things up in boxes.
| 1871 Echo 8 Feb., The material passes..through the hands of..an ‘examiner’, and..a ‘boxer’. |
▪ II. ˈboxer2
[f. box v.2 + -er1.]
1. One who boxes or fights with his fists; a pugilist.
| 1742 Fielding J. Andrews iii. ix, A stout fellow and an expert boxer. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 154 As if I had received a blow from the expert hand of a boxer. |
2. (With capital initial.) A member of a Chinese secret society organized in the late 19th century, whose primary aim was to save the Chinese empire (and was consequently anti-dynastic); the movement inspired the attack on foreigners in Pekin in 1900. Also attrib.
The name represents Chinese i ho chuan or chuen, lit. righteous harmony boxers (fists).
| 1900 Westm. Gaz. 26 Apr. 8/4 A number of Boxers attacked a village where some Chinese Catholics live. Ibid. 25 May 5/2 The ‘Boxer’ menace in China continues to excite anxiety. Ibid. 7 June 5/7 A Boxer force was for several weeks drilling..within sight of the foreign concession. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXIX. 228/2 The faith which he [sc. Sir Robert Hart] put in the Chinese made him turn a deaf ear to the warnings of the threatening Boxer movement in 1900. 1933 Granta 19 Apr. 358/2 No one could have believed that the brutal sadism to which for a moment it gave rein had survived the Boxer rising. 1959 Chambers's Encycl. II. 477/2 The Boxers indulged in a cult of magic. |
3. Special Comb. boxer shorts orig. U.S., long loose-fitting underpants for men, similar in design to the shorts worn by boxers in the ring.
| 1944 Apparel Arts Mar. 88/2 Do you have any *boxer shorts with elastic waistbands? 1968 ‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Singing Bird vii. 68 A young man..in very small boxer shorts and a peaked cap. 1983 Listener 3 Feb. 19/3 You can always..don your string vest and boxer shorts and bang hell out of a rowing machine. |
Hence Boxerism (ˈbɒksərɪz(ə)m), the conduct and practices of the Boxers in China.
| 1901 Westm. Gaz. 11 Apr. 1/2 It is scarcely surprising..that Boxerism is still lurking beneath the surface. 1907 Daily Chron. 28 Sept. 1/7 An outbreak of Boxerism has taken place in China. |
▸ In pl. = boxer shorts n. at 3.
| 1946 Middletown (N.Y.) Times Herald 15 Nov. 8/6 (advt.) Boxer shorts 79c..Rayon boxers $1.49. 1958 Van Nuys (Calif.) News 4 Sept. 19 a/2 (advt.) 65% dacron, 35% cotton—wash 'n wear boxers, easily machine washed, drip dry with no ironing. 1986 C. Matheson & E. Solomon Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (film script) 51 (stage direct.) As Bill and Ted turn down the hallway, we see that their boxers are coming up out of their suits. 1999 Spark 8 Mar. 9/5 It's only really important for those over 16 years of age to wear boxers. |
▸ boxer briefs n. orig. U.S. (also occas. in sing.) any of various (men's) garments resembling both boxer shorts and briefs; (now) spec. snugly fitting underpants of stretch fabric, with legs typically extending to the mid-thigh.
| 1947 Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail 23 May 7 (advt.) ‘*Boxer’ brief styled of tough-to-take-it cotton poplin. 1994 Discount Merchandiser Nov. 90 Team uniforms..are prompting them to buy longer-length boxer briefs and cycling shorts. 2004 Halifax (Nova Scotia) Daily News (Nexis) 2 Dec. 19 Boxer briefs—fitted, stretchy boxers—have become the leader in men's underwear in the last 10 years. |
▪ III. boxer3
[f. box n.1 + -er1.]
A boxwood pegtop.
| 1840 Peter Parley's Ann. 85 I'll give you my two pegs for your boxer. 1853 N. & Q. 1st Ser. VIII. 63/1 Schoolboys call tops made of boxwood, boxers. 1881 F. Y. Ev. Man his own Mech. ii. ii. 267 ‘Boxers’, as they [sc. spinning tops] are called from the material of which they are made, are considered to be the best. |
▪ IV. ˈboxer4
[? f. box n.2 + -er1.]
1. dial. A tall hat.
| 1877 Legends in Dial. of Gloucestershire 51 Twur genelmen wi' boxers on. 1884 H. D. Rawnsley in Trans. Wordsworth Soc. VI. 163 Wearing a big wideawake, or a bit of an old boxer. |
2. A bowler or billycock hat. Austral.
| 1897 Argus 9 Jan. 14/2 (Morris), And will you wear a boxer that is in a battered state? 1904 Westm. Gaz. 9 June 12/1 In Melbourne..a..man in the ordinary Sunday suit of a worker, a boxer hat, and a blue shirt with a white collar. |
▪ V. boxer5
[G., a. Eng. boxer2.]
A smooth-coated, square-built, fawn or brindle breed of dog of the bulldog type, originating in Germany.
| 1934 Hutchinson's Dog Encycl. I. 184 Boxer. This dog, which appears to derive from the ‘Dogues’ that had been made use of, during past centuries, for animal-baiting, is very little known in Britain. 1952 Koestler Arrow in Blue 200 My dog Jessy—the first of a long series of Alsatians, Welsh sheep dogs, Boxers and St. Bernards. 1958 F. King Man on Rock vi. 170 They cost you a fortune, big dogs. A pal of mine has a boxer, a German boxer, that's what they call it. |