scatola

box

noun SKAH-toh-lah Rare

Origin: From medieval Latin scatula, possibly from Greek skatule (small basket).

Also means

tin, can

Usage Note

Scatola is feminine and means a box or, when made of metal, a tin or can — una scatola di tonno is 'a tin of tuna'. The idiom essere a scatola chiusa ('to buy a pig in a poke' — literally 'to buy with the box closed') means accepting something sight unseen. The dismissive phrase rompere le scatole is a common vulgar-lite idiom for 'to annoy'.

Examples

"Metti i libri in quella scatola grande."

Natural Translation

Put the books in that big box.

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