thunderbox

thunderbox

dated slang A crude or rudimentary outdoor or portable toilet. The general used to get such bad constipation that he would shout his orders while still atop the thunderbox. There was a marvelous sense of freedom doing your business on the thunderbox while you stared up at the night sky.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

thunderbox

n. a portable stereo radio, often played very loudly in public. (see also boom box.) Someday I’m going to smash one of these thunderboxes!
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • be in with a shout
  • shout out
  • enamel
  • shout (oneself) silly
  • the foggiest
  • the foggiest (idea)
  • the foggiest inkling
  • the foggiest notion
  • flusher
  • snap out
References in periodicals archive
"The discovery of such a personal everyday item from nearly 2,000 years ago has intrigued people across the world and its legacy will now continue with a special edition Vindolanda Thunderbox seat being launched by Tosca & Willoughby in time for the ancient loo seat going on public display."
A netty gain for Roman loos
Interviewed by Justin Lee Collins on a Channel Five profile of his career on Monday night, he implied that those who turned up to watch his band Thunderbox at Venue Cymru came from a faulty gene pool.
UNDER SIEGE; Town's mayor demands an apology from action movie star Seagal after he brands locals geriatric inbreds who mess with sheep on TV
He recalls basic training, battle training in earnerst, final embarkation for active service, Pusan and beyond, creature comforts, Christmas at the front, the prisoners and a prelude to spring, porters and poetry, Hill 355 and a true thunderbox, rest and recuperation leave in Tokyo, and other matters.
A conscript in Korea
Dating back to 1490, Speke Hall is owned by The National Trust and contains lots of intriguing interior secrets, such as the secret priest''s hole and "thunderbox" toilet.
Family fun days this Easter
The bathroom is not flooded, dad's shaving cream is not smudged over the mirror and the toilet paper roll has not been flushed down the thunderbox! Here we have a much gentler take on reality where the baby actually plays with the given items, rather than launches each item powerfully and dramatically at a passing sibling.
Smith, Craig (illus.) Mike Dumbleton (text): What Will Baby Do?
THUNDERBOX COLLECTIVE www.thunderboxes2go.co.uk The firm make an co-friendly mobile loo, a more pleasant alternative to the foul-smelling big plastic boxes at festivals and building sites.
Firms are a Brit special
When Steven Seagal announced a UK tour with his blues band Thunderbox, my reaction, like most people's, was an amused one.
The Hollywood blues man
The American star of films like Under Siege and Exit Wounds is also an accomplished musician and is currently on a world tour with the band Thunderbox. He's appearing in concert at Warwick Arts Centre tonight.
Your 60 SECOND guide to the week
Seagal is promoting a 34-date UK music tour with his band Thunderbox, who arrive in Llandudno's Venue Cymru on February 11, the Grand Theatre in Swansea on the 17th and Cardiff's Coal Exchange on the 18th.
STRONG BUT VERY SILENT
Which movie tough guy played two gigs in Glasgow last week with his band Thunderbox?
Quiz of the week
A Madman Entertainment release of a Thunderbox Films, Madman Cinema production, in association with Splashdown.
Kenny
A 19th Century water closet - referred to by staff as "Edward's Thunderbox" - has been reconditioned into a fully operational lavatory.
Sophiegate: The bigshots of Bagshot Park..
Thunderbox Weekly TV show with over a million viewers
Properties Available for Licensing
The first series from Sport is a hybrid sports/entertainment show called Thunderbox. Ernesto Akaba, creative director for Sport International, describes the program as being "a combination of boxing, beautiful women and live music."
SPORTEL Claims Monopoly of Sports-TV Trade Shows
The cold toilet, with its archaic thunderbox, was filled with language books and dictionaries, including Dutch and Esperanto.
Iris Murdoch: a memoir