ALMS-Box, or Chest, a small chest or coffer, called by the Greeks Kabdi, wherein anciently the alms were collected, both at church and at private houses.
The alms-chest, in English churches, is a strong box, with a hole in the upper part, having three keys, one to be kept by the parson or curate, the other two by the church-wardens. The erecting of such alms-chest in every church is enjoined by the book of canons, as also the manner of distributing what is thus collected among the poor of the parish.