boxBrE /bɒks/ NAmE /bɑːks/► SEE ALLbox cleverbox sb’s earsgive sb a box on the earsin the box seatPandora’s boxnot the sharpest knife in the drawerthink out of the boxbe out of your treea bag/box of tricks ●box ˈclever (BrE, informal) act in a clever way to get what you want, sometimes tricking and deceiving sb巧取；智取；耍花招◆Suzie realized that she had to box clever. She had to let Adam think she trusted him. 苏茜意识到她必须施点手腕，让亚当以为自己信任他。●box sb’s ˈears●give sb a box on the ˈears (old-fashioned) hit sb with your hand on the side of their head as a punishment打某人的耳光◆If you do that one more time I’ll box your ears, boy! 小子，你再那样干，我就抽你耳光！●in the ˈbox seat (AustralE, NZE, informal) in a position in which you have an advantage处于有利的位置◆Australia is in the box seat to reclaim the trophy following its record win over Ireland. 在创纪录战胜爱尔兰后，澳大利亚有望重夺奖杯。●Pandora’s ˈboxa source of great trouble and suffering, although this may not be obvious at the beginning潘多拉盒子（指灾祸之源）◆The publication of her diaries opened up a real Pandora’s box.她的日记的出版犹如打开了潘多拉盒子，引起了种种祸患。ORIGINIn Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman on earth. The gods sent her to earth with a box that she was forbidden to open, but she opened it and all the evils flew out of it into the world.希腊神话中，潘多拉是地球上第一个女人。宙斯给了她一个盒子并禁止她打开，她打开之后，所有的罪恶都来到了这个世界上。●not the sharpest knife in the ˈdrawer ( not the sharpest tool in the ˈbox) (humorous) not intelligent不够聪明◆I know he’s good-looking, but he’s not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, is he?我知道他长得挺帅，可是脑子不怎么灵光，对吗？OPPa/one smart cookie●think out of the ˈbox ( think outside the ˈbox) think about sth, or how to do sth, in a new, different or creative way (especially in business)（尤指在商业活动中）换个角度思考，以新的眼光看问题◆The company is looking for adventurous, creative people who can think out of the box and are not afraid of experimenting.该公司正在物色勇于探索、善于创新的人才，要求他们能进行创造性的思维并且有勇气进行尝试。◆Thinking out of the box would improve public education.创新思维有助于提高公共教育的水平。●be out of your ˈtree (BrE alsobe out of your ˈbox) (informal) crazy or strange; behaving in a crazy or stupid way, perhaps because of drugs or alcohol（因吸毒或醉酒等而）疯疯癫癫，傻兮兮◆She must be out of her tree, going swimming in this weather.她肯定是发疯了，这种天气还去游泳。●a bag/box of ˈtricks (informal) a set of methods or equipment that sb can use一套措施（或法宝）；种种办法◆Hotel managers are using a whole new bag of tricks to attract their guests.旅馆经理们又亮出一套新的法宝来吸引顾客。