A large portable stereo or music player with powerful speakers, popular in the 1980s and 1990s for playing loud music.
Compound word from 'boom' (loud sound) + 'box'. Created in the 1980s when these devices became cultural icons, the term combines the sound effect with the physical form in a colorful, descriptive way.
Boombox is a perfect example of how technology creates slang—when a new invention is so culturally important, people invent catchy names for it! The term has stuck around for 40+ years even though the technology has changed.
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