inbox

noun

in·​box ˈin-ˌbäks 

variants or in-box

plural inboxes or in-boxes

1

: a box or tray (as on a desk) for holding incoming interoffice mail

2

: a computer folder devoted to incoming email

One of my favorite rituals soon became scanning our email inbox, looking for your photographs … and reading the letters you sent …

—Amy Virshup

Examples of inbox in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Forbes Daily: Join over 1 million Forbes Daily subscribers and get our best stories, exclusive reporting and essential analysis of the day’s news in your inbox every weekday. —Zak Doffman, Forbes.com, 19 Apr. 2025

Weekly Newsletter Get your fix of JSTOR Daily’s best stories in your inbox each Thursday. —Livia Gershon, JSTOR Daily, 19 Apr. 2025

Sign up to get crime news sent straight to your inbox each day. —Max Levy, Denver Post, 19 Apr. 2025

Also, click here to subscribe to our newsletter bringing our top stories of the week straight to your inbox. —Ronnie Li, USA Today, 19 Apr. 2025

Vogue Daily newsletter Get essential fashion, style, and tips, in your inbox. —Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 18 Apr. 2025

Subscribe to Pitchfork’s New Music Friday newsletter to get our recommendations in your inbox every week. —Jazz Monroe, Pitchfork, 18 Apr. 2025

Chicago Tribune columnist Paul Sullivan is probably shivering in the press box at Wrigley Field as this email hits your inbox. —Kori Rumore, Chicago Tribune, 18 Apr. 2025

Get the Robb Report newsletter for similar stories delivered straight to your inbox. —Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 7 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1958, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

in-box

noun

ˈin-ˌbäks

: a receptacle for incoming letters between offices in an organization

also : a computer folder for incoming email