air-box

noun

plural air-boxes

: a chamber in a motor vehicle through which air is drawn and filtered before passing into the carburetors or fuel injectors

One of the car's neatest features is a flap on the intake air-box beneath the hood that opens above 3,000 rpm, emitting a wild, flat intake moan under acceleration.

—Terry Box, Dallas Morning News, 8 June 2008

Word History

First Known Use

1857, in the meaning defined above

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