I. ˈpak noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English pak, pack, of Low German origin; akin to Middle Low German & Middle Dutch pak, MFlemish pac
1.
a.
(1) : a compact bundle of goods or equipment arranged for convenience in carrying especially on the back of an animal or man
sat on the deck by the bulky aid packs that the corpsmen had deposited — L.M.Uris
parachute pack
(2) : a knapsack or blanket roll for carrying personal effects
have him roll a full field pack … extra shoes helmet and all — James Jones
(3) : a climb or hike with a pack on one's back
b. : a group or pile of related objects: as
(1) : a shook of cask staves
(2) : a bundle of sheet-metal plates for rolling simultaneously
(3) : a number of separate photographic films packed so as to be inserted together into a camera and each attached to a paper tab that on being withdrawn moves the individual exposed film to the back of the lot
(4) : a set of two or three color films or plates for simultaneous exposure — compare bipack , tripack
(5) : a stack of theatrical flats arranged in sequence
c.
(1) : a number of individual components packaged as a unit usually for marketing : packet
pack of cigarettes
a fiber drum pack of dressed chickens — Recommended Specifications for Poultry & Poultry Products
open a pack of canned goods
(2) : container
saw the little pilot chute whip out behind him, dragging the silk from the pack — Howard Hunt
specifically : a package for a commercial product
polyethylene makes ideal individual packs catsup, mustard, jelly — Newsweek
(3) : a compact unitized assembly to perform a specific function (as a power pack to energize a radio set)
(4) : a container shielded with lead or mercury for holding radium in large quantities especially for therapeutic application
2. : a group of people: as
a. : a set of persons with similar aims or background
took her for granted as part of the family pack — Anne D. Sedgwick
especially : a hostile or destructive clique
pursued … by a pack of every able-bodied villager, armed with sticks and stones — T.H.White b.1906
this heedless pack of curiosity seekers were suffocating him — L.C.Douglas
b. : the forward line of a rugby team
c. : an organized troop (as of the Boy Scouts)
a cub pack may be started in any community where a group of interested parents obtain the sponsorship of a responsible institution — Parents' Magazine
3.
a. : the contents of a pack : any of various units (as a 240-pound measure for wool, a linen yarn measure of 60,000 yards, 20 books of gold leaf) based on the amount in a standard pack
b. : a large amount or number : heap
a … good fellow with packs of courage — H.J.Laski
a pack of lies made up by a vindictive person — Rex Ingamells
c.
(1) : a set of cards that is complete for the playing of a given game ; especially : the full deck of 52 cards of 4 suits with all or part of which most card games are played
(2) : any portion of a set of playing cards remaining undealt at any stage of a card game
(3) : the discard pile in canasta and similar games
(4) : a group of cards of special value in a card game because of their number or their high rank : a strong card hand
4.
a. : an act or instance of packing
field pack of peaches by migrant workers
the first experimental packs were made in Denver in 1908 — M.A.Joslyn & L.A.Hohl
b. : a method of packing
vacuum pack
dry sugar packs are in the proportion of three pounds of fruit to one of sugar — Anne Pierce
c. : the total amount (as of produce or fish) packed during a specified period
the military requires … more than 9 percent of the national pack of canned fruits and vegetables — R.B.Russell
supplying the fish for a hundred thousand case pack — N.C.McDonald
5.
a.
(1) : a group of domesticated animals trained to hunt or run together
kept a pack of tiny beagles — E.J.Oates
led the pack out of the starting gate — G.F.T.Ryall
(2) : a group of usually wild animals of the same kind congregating in herds, flocks, or schools
baboons … ran in packs of fifty or more — Alan Moorehead
tunas roving the open sea in packs — Rachel L. Carson
prairie chickens congregating in winter packs
specifically : a group of predatory animals hunting together
wolf pack
b. : a group of vehicles traveling together
made the freeway and flitted through the slower car packs — Motor Life
especially : an organized group of combat craft
a submarine pack that sank twelve ships in two hours — Fortune
the pack of jets … passed overhead on their way to the targets — B.J.Friedman
6.
a. : a concentrated mass
a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved — Scott Fitzgerald
specifically : ice pack
locked in the antarctic ice until the breakup of the pack in the summer — Glen Jacobsen
b. : a supporting wall or pillar in a coal mine built of gob
7.
a. : absorbent material saturated with water or other liquid for therapeutic application to the body or a body part — see cold pack , hot pack , ice pack
b. : a folded square or compress of gauze or other absorbent material used especially to maintain a clear field in surgery, to plug cavities, to check bleeding by compression, or to apply medication
8.
a. : mudpack
b. : an application or treatment of oils or creams for conditioning the scalp and hair
9. : material used as packing
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English pakken, probably from Middle Dutch, from pak pack, noun
transitive verb
1.
a. : to stow in or as if in a container : make into a compact bundle
packed and unpacked all the gear in traveling — Weston La Barre
a couple of staff sergeants were packing film into the combat cameras — Walter Peters
put on his hat, packed up his family, and set off — Atlantic
packs an extraordinary amount of information into a few pages — Times Literary Supplement
b. : to fill completely : cram to capacity : stuff , jam
pack a bag
pack a stadium
the whole horizon seemed packed with their white sails — Kenneth Roberts
into twelve hours had been packed the events that well might have filled a lifetime — Rafael Sabatini
a route … packed with scenes of mountain splendor — O.S.Nock
c. : to fill with packing: as
(1) : to fill in (as mine stopes or old workings) with waste rock to support the roof
(2) : to fill (a fractionating column or tower) with loose pieces of solid material
d. archaic : to hoist and carry as much (sail) as possible — usually used with on
packed on all sail — William Scoresby †1857
e. : to load with a pack
pack a mule
f. : to put in a protective container : package or preserve for shipment or marketing
vegetables usually reach Salinas by the truckload and there they are washed, trimmed, inspected and packed — Monsanto Magazine
2.
a. : to crowd together : assemble in a compact group
in the yard packed solid were the farmers, standing silently — Meridel Le Sueur
in the past all the galaxies now so widely scattered were packed tightly together — George Gamow
b. : to increase the density of : compress
packed the lower soil so that capillarity could operate — W.P.Webb
3.
a. : to cause or command to go : send
saw her packed back to Holland when the Dutch exiled him — Time
— usually used with off
the children are packed off to Sunday school — Times Literary Supplement
calmed him down and packed him off to bed — Clemence Dane
specifically : to dismiss unceremoniously
could neither be tactfully paid off nor summarily packed off — S.H.Adams
b. : to bring or come to an end or halt : finish , stop — used with up or in
gossip … that he might soon pack up his assignment and return to the United States — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union
machine-gun bullets packed up the airplane's transmitter
does not mean that … a supreme master in the saddle, will pack in riding — Irish Digest
4. : to gather into a tight formation : make a pack of
hounds well packed as they close in on their quarry
specifically : to take one's place in (a rugby scrum)
the coach came in and we packed a scrum for him — A.P.Gaskell
5.
a. : to cover or surround with a pack
packed it away from the operative field with gauze packs — R.P.Parsons
specifically : to envelop (a patient) in a wet or dry sheet or blanket
b. : to caulk or fit by filling or surrounding with material that prevents passage (as of air, water, or steam)
the valve stem is packed against exhaust pressure only — Ingersoll-Rand General Catalogue
6.
a. : to carry or transport on foot
pack a canoe over a portage
two platoons … were ordered to pack the ammunition to them on foot — Infantry Journal
pack a suitcase
b. : to convey usually on the back of an animal
would pay $20 a day each to be packed back into the … Gorge for trout — Frank Daugherty
packed guns and ammunition enough to make their horses swaybacked — F.B.Gipson
c. : to wear or carry as part of one's regular equipment
pack a gun
pack a union card
clothes-conscious … although they stop somewhere short of packing a rolled-up umbrella — W.L.Worden
d. : to be supplied or equipped with : possess
the storm … packing winds of eighty to ninety miles — New York Times
these proven weapons … pack nuclear warheads — R.C.Albrook
few streets in America pack more history to the square foot — Budd Schulberg
e. slang : to be capable of making (an impact)
world's heavyweight champion … packed a wallop — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union
a book that packs a man-sized punch — C.J.Rolo
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to go away : depart
no one simply packs off and leaves an obligation without first making some explanation — Dorothy Baker
specifically : to consider oneself summarily dismissed
when he refused to work … he was calmly told by the youthful manager to pack up — Breeder's Gazette
b. : to come to a halt : cease to function : quit , stop — used with up or in
the motors coughed and packed up — Auckland (New Zealand) Weekly News
why don't you pack in, before you kill yourself — Millard Lampell
2.
a. : to stow goods and equipment (as clothes and personal belongings) in luggage or packs for transportation
was given an overseas assignment and sent home to pack
the company will probably pack up and move south — Time
specifically : to package a product for shipment
the final step in flour manufacture is packing — Studies for Flour Salesmen
b. : to become adapted for packing
a knit dress packs well
air mattresses pack away into a small space
c. archaic : to increase the speed of a ship by crowding on sail
be ready to pack after them, if they are gone to the bay — Horatio Nelson
d. : to become filled to capacity
watch the big tarnished grange pack to the rafters — William Du Bois
3.
a. : to assemble in a group : congregate
snow partridges are wont to pack like grouse in the autumn — Douglas Carruthers
specifically : to run close together
the dogs followed in fine order, packing and driving as they went — Red Ranger
b. : to crowd together
excursionists … pack into a bus — Richard Joseph
specifically : to form a rugby scrum
forwards still mostly packed 3-2-3 — O.L.Owen
4.
a. : to arrange a group of related objects in a compact mass
one man handed up sandbags while the other packed
b. : to increase in density
some broken ores tend to pack in stopes, and must be blasted out — Robert Peele
ice packed up against the cab glasses, and visibility was just about nil — O.S.Nock
5.
a. : to carry or convey goods or equipment
domesticated animals … used for packing — J.H.Steward
b. : to travel with one's baggage by horse or muleback
telling about the summer he packed into the Big Horn mountains of Wyoming — Hamilton Basso
Synonyms:
crowd , cram , stuff , ram , tamp : pack , orig. meaning to form into bundles for convenient handling especially in transporting, implies also the orderly economical filling of a receptacle or a total often excessive or uncomfortable filling of anything
pack a bag for an overnight trip
pack a box until it splits open at the sides
a play that packs the theater every night
crowd implies a great number of things out of proportion to the space available for them, sometimes suggesting pressing or serious inconvenience
salmon crowded both streams — W.L.Worden
various chapters of the book are crowded with references — Paolo Milano
visitors crowding the vacation areas
cram suggests more strongly the excessive packing to the point of bruising or squeezing, often implying a disorderly and forcible insertion of something into an inadequately large receptacle or area
into a day that begins each morning at 7:30, Jim crams enough work to fill two — Newsweek
the man whose shelves are crammed with horticultural books — A.J.P.Taylor
a man doesn't try to cram his feet into his wife's shoes — Constance Foster
stuff implies a filling to the point of bulging or protrusion, often suggesting also the disorder of cramming
stuff a pillow with feathers
stuff a handful of bills into a wallet
stuffed himself with cake
ram carries the idea of pounding, stamping, or pushing hard to force in
ram a bullet into the rifle barrel
pronging great slices of meat onto his fork and ramming them into his mouth — Bruce Marshall
tamp usually implies a loose packing in (as of something granular) by the pressure of repeated light blows
tamping the gravel back around the ties — Charlton Laird
tamp tobacco in a pipe bowl
the floors were of tamped earth — American Guide Series: Washington
III. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: perhaps alteration (influenced by pack ) (II) of pact (I)
intransitive verb
obsolete : to make a secret agreement : conspire
go pack with him, and give the mother gold — Shakespeare
transitive verb
1. obsolete
a. : to let into a conspiracy : make an accomplice of
that goldsmith there, were he not packed with her, could witness it — Shakespeare
b. : to arrange in secret : plot
had it been a packed business, they would have been careful not to have differed in a tittle — Francis Bragge
2.
a. : to influence the composition of (as a political agency) so as to bring about a desired result
succeeded … in packing parliament with their adherents — Publ's Mod. Lang. Association of American
could pack the ballot with dummy candidates to split the vote — New Republic
b. obsolete : to manipulate (playing cards) fraudulently : stack
3. : to add a pack to — used chiefly of the price of an automobile or other item of durable goods
those who sign contracts in blank are making it easy for the unethical dealer to pack the account — Facts About Buying Used Cars
•
- pack cards
IV. noun
( -s )
1. obsolete : compact , plot
2. : an unjustified surcharge or markup added to a price by a dealer often in collusion with other dealers or with a finance company
many a dealer admitted privately that he added a pack … to allow more room for the discounts his customers expected — Time
V. adjective
Etymology: perhaps from pack (III)
chiefly Scotland : very friendly : intimate
unco pack and thick thegither — Robert Burns
VI.
variant of pac
VII. transitive verb
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- pack it in