pack
/pæk/ noun, verb
- noun A bundle made up and prepared to be carried; especially, a bundle to be carried on the back, but also a load for an animal, a bale. “The horses carried the packs across the plain.”
- noun A number or quantity equal to the contents of a pack
- noun A multitude. “a pack of lies”
- noun A number or quantity of connected or similar things; a collective.
- noun A full set of playing cards “We were going to play cards, but nobody brought a pack.”
- noun The assortment of playing cards used in a particular game. “cut the pack”
- noun (collective) A group of hounds or dogs, hunting or living together.
- noun (collective) A group of wolves, hunting together.
- verb (transitive) To make a pack of; to arrange closely and securely in a pack; hence, to place and arrange compactly as in a pack “to pack goods in a box; to pack fish”
- verb (transitive) To fill in the manner of a pack, that is, compactly and securely, as for transportation; hence, to fill closely or to repletion; to stow away within; to cause to be full; to crowd into. “to pack a trunk; the play, or the audience, packs the theater”
- verb (transitive) To wrap in a wet or dry sheet, within numerous coverings. “The doctor gave Kelly some sulfa pills and packed his arm in hot-water bags.”
- verb (transitive) To make impervious, such as by filling or surrounding with suitable material, or to fit or adjust so as to move without allowing air, water, or steam inside. “to pack a joint; to pack the piston of a steam engine; pack someone's arm with ice.”
- verb (intransitive) To make up packs, bales, or bundles; to stow articles securely for transportation.
- verb (intransitive) To form a compact mass, especially in order for transportation. “the goods pack conveniently; wet snow packs well”
- verb (intransitive, of animals) To gather together in flocks, herds, schools or similar groups of animals. “the grouse or the perch begin to pack”
- verb (transitive, historical) To combine (telegraph messages) in order to send them more cheaply as a single transmission.
Synonyms
deck wolfpack stack battalion large number multitude plurality gang ring mob clique coterie ingroup inner circle camp face pack bundle wad compact carry take throng pile jam backpack tamp down tamp load down
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English pak, pakke, from Old English *pæcca and/or Middle Dutch pak, packe; both ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *pakkō, from Proto-Germanic *pakkô (“bundle, pack”).
Cognate with Dutch pak (“pack”), Low German Pack (“pack”), German Pack (“pack”), Swedish packe (“pack”), Icelandic pakka, pakki (“package”).
From Middle English pakken, from the noun (see above). Compare Middle Dutch packen (“to pack”), Middle Low German packen (“to pack”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To make a pack of; to arrange closely and securely in a pack; hence, to place and arrange compactly as in a pack; to press into close order or narrow compass; as to pack goods in a box; to pack fish.
- verb To fill in the manner of a pack, that is, compactly and securely, as for transportation; hence, to fill closely or to repletion; to stow away within; to cause to be full; to crowd into; as, to pack a trunk; the play, or the audience, packs the theater.
- verb To make up packs, bales, or bundles; to stow articles securely for transportation.
- verb To admit of stowage, or of making up for transportation or storage; to become compressed or to settle together, so as to form a compact mass; as, the goods pack conveniently; wet snow packs well.
Etymology [Akin to D. pakken, G. packen, Dan. pakke, Sw. packa, Icel. pakka. See Pack, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pack”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details