boombox

A large, portable radio. The stereotypical image of hip hop in the '80s is a guy walking down the street with a huge boombox on his shoulder. I can't hear myself think, thanks to the kids blasting their boombox at the park.

boom box

n. a portable stereo radio. (see also box, thunderbox.) Turn down that damn boom box, or I’ll kick it in. See also: boom, box

boombox

A portable, low-price music system that contains an AM/FM radio and CD player. Boomboxes come in myriad sizes and shapes and may also support MP3 and other compressed audio files. Philips introduced the first boombox in 1966, which had a tape cassette deck for recording and playback, and boomboxes began to flourish in Japan and the U.S. Although today's smartphones are widely used for personal listening, speakers are still necessary for room-filling sound, and Bluetooth-enabled boomboxes can be used for that requirement. Battery-driven units typically have an AC power option, but large boomboxes require wall power. See music system.

A Best Buy Boombox

Using six D-cell batteries or AC power, this Insignia portable boombox contains an AM/FM radio and plays CDs and tape cassettes. (Image courtesy of BBY Solutions, Inc., www.bestbuy.com)