Writing & StyleStyle guide

PO Box Meaning and Formatting

PO box means a numbered post-office box used to receive mail. Cambridge records forms including “PO box,” “PO Box,” and American “P.O. Box,” so formatting can depend on address style and regional convention.

Quick answer

PO box means post-office box. “PO Box” and “P.O. Box” are both documented forms; follow the applicable postal or house style.

Key details

Core IssuePO box is a postal-address term with documented capitalization and punctuation variants.
Phrase Roleaddress abbreviation
Registerpostal and professional writing

Important caveats

Formatting Boundary

Cambridge shows PO box, PO Box, and P.O. Box across its dictionaries, so one punctuation form should not be presented as universal.

Further guidance

Meaning

Cambridge defines PO box as a numbered box at a post office used to receive mail.

Sources and evidence

Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.

  1. PO box — Cambridge Dictionary (opens in a new tab)Cambridge Dictionary · Meaning and documented PO Box/P.O. Box variants

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