phone box
The standard British, Irish, and Australian term for a public telephone enclosure — what Americans call a phone booth.
Definitions
The standard British, Irish, and Australian term for a public telephone enclosure — what Americans call a phone booth. The classic British red phone box (the K6 model designed by Giles Gilbert Scott) is an internationally recognised cultural icon. Used figuratively to describe any very small, cramped space.
The flat was so small it felt like living in a phone box.
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(UK, Ireland, Australia) A telephone box.
“Another phone box to add to my growing collection #35mm 🎞️”
— Bluesky· May 2026
Comments
(figurative) A very small space.
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
See all British & Irish slang slang on Slangora.
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Semantically related
- telephone box86%
(British, Ireland, Australia) A small enclosure housing a public telephone (usually a payphone).
- telephone kiosk84%
Telephone kiosk is the formal British and Irish English term for what Americans call a phone booth — that iconic enclosed or semi-enclosed public structure housing a payphone. The bright red telephone kiosk designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott became one of Britain's most recognized design icons. Most have been decommissioned or repurposed as mini libraries, defibrillator stations, or tourist photography spots, but the term lingers as a nostalgic piece of British vocabulary and a beloved cultural symbol.
- telephone kiosk76%
(UK, Irish) A telephone booth.
- police box72%
(chiefly, British, dated) A telephone kiosk where members of the public may telephone the police.