packing
    n 1: any material used especially to protect something [syn:
         packing material, packing, wadding]
    2: the enclosure of something in a package or box [syn:
       packing, boxing]
    3: carrying something in a pack on the back; "the backpacking of
       oxygen is essential for astronauts" [syn: packing,
       backpacking]

Pack \Pack\ (p[a^]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Packed (p[a^]kt); p.
   pr. & vb. n. Packing.] [Akin to D. pakken, G. packen, Dan.
   pakke, Sw. packa, Icel. pakka. See Pack, n.]
   1. 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.
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            Strange materials packed up with wonderful art.
                                                  --Addison.
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            Where . . . the bones
            Of all my buried ancestors are packed. --Shak.
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   2. 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.
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   3. To shuffle, sort and arrange (the cards) in a pack so as
      to secure the game unfairly; to stack[3] (the deck).
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            And mighty dukes pack cards for half a crown.
                                                  --Pope.
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   4. Hence: To bring together or make up unfairly and
      fraudulently, in order to secure a certain result; to
      stack[3]; as, to pack a jury or a caucus.
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            The expected council was dwindling into . . . a
            packed assembly of Italian bishops.   --Atterbury.
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   5. To contrive unfairly or fraudulently; to plot. [Obs.]
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            He lost life . . . upon a nice point subtilely
            devised and packed by his enemies.    --Fuller.
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   6. To load with a pack; hence, to load; to encumber; as, to
      pack a horse.
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            Our thighs packed with wax, our mouths with honey.
                                                  --Shack.
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   7. To cause to go; to send away with baggage or belongings;
      esp., to send away peremptorily or suddenly; to send
      packing; -- sometimes with off; as, to pack a boy off to
      school.
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            He . . . must not die
            Till George be packed with post horse up to heaven.
                                                  --Shak.
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   8. To transport in a pack, or in the manner of a pack (i. e.,
      on the backs of men or beasts). [Western U.S.]
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   9. (Hydropathy) To envelop in a wet or dry sheet, within
      numerous coverings. See Pack, n., 5.
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   10. (Mech.) To render impervious, as by filling or
       surrounding with suitable material, or to fit or adjust
       so as to move without giving passage to air, water, or
       steam; as, to pack a joint; to pack the piston of a steam
       engine.
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   11. To cover, envelop, or protect tightly with something;
       specif. (Hydropathy), to envelop in a wet or dry sheet,
       within numerous coverings.
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Packing \Pack"ing\, n.
   1. The act or process of one who packs.
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   2. Any material used to pack, fill up, or make close.
      Specifically (Mach.): A substance or piece used to make a
      joint impervious; as:
      (a) A thin layer, or sheet, of yielding or elastic
          material inserted between the surfaces of a flange
          joint.
      (b) The substance in a stuffing box, through which a
          piston rod slides.
      (c) A yielding ring, as of metal, which surrounds a piston
          and maintains a tight fit, as inside a cylinder, etc.
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   3. (Masonry) Same as Filling. [Rare in the U. S.]
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   4. A trick; collusion. [Obs.] --Bale.
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   Cherd packing (Bridge Building), the arrangement, side by
      side, of several parts, as bars, diagonals, a post, etc.,
      on a pin at the bottom of a chord. --Waddell.

   Packing box, a stuffing box. See under Stuffing.

   Packing press, a powerful press for baling cotton, wool,
      hay, etc.

   Packing ring. See Packing, 2
      (c), and Illust. of Piston.

   Packing sheet.
      (a) A large cloth for packing goods.
      (b) A sheet prepared for packing hydropathic patients.
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