pack

PAK/pæk/

Verbpacks, packing, packed

Noun pluralpacks

41 meanings of pack

Practice

1
put in a bagverbtransitive
To put things closely and securely into a bag, box, or other container, or make them into bundles, ready for storing or traveling.
He packed the fragile glasses in layers of newspaper.
Workers pack the crates tightly so the contents will not shift in transit.
UsageUsually pack things into or in something: clothes into a suitcase, glasses in newspaper.
Oppositeunpack
Note
The sense keeps the idea of fitting things closely into a set space, and it reached early beyond baggage. In Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Juliet imagines a vault where the bones of her ancestors "are packed."
2
fill to burstingverbtransitive
To fill something closely or to overflowing, crowding contents tightly into the available space.
Commuters packed the train until there was no room to move.
Organizers pack the hall with extra chairs for the annual meeting.
UsageThe place is the object: fans pack a stadium, organizers pack a hall with chairs; a full place is packed.
Similarcram, crowd, fill, jam, stuff
Oppositeempty, clear
Note
Crowds often do the filling, of a theater, a train or a stadium; compare packing things into containers, where the object is the things stowed. George Goodchild's Death on the Centre Court (1935) has a restaurant packed by one o'clock. In 2007 Claudia La Rocco stretches the sense to choreography, describing a dancemaker who packs, and overpacks, phrases.
3
packet for salenouncountable
A packet or package of things sold together as one unit, such as cigarettes, gum, or batteries.
She ordered a pack of printer paper for the office.
The recipe calls for one pack of dried yeast.
UsageUsually a pack of something: a pack of batteries, two packs of paper.
4
fit in a lotverbtransitive
To fit a large amount of something, such as features, power, or information, into a compact form or a brief span of time.
Modern phones pack an impressive range of features into a slim case.
Her ten-minute talk packed in more useful information than most hour-long lectures.
UsagePack a lot into something small or short, or pack in a lot; often admiring.
Similarcram, squeeze
5
nouncountable
A bundle made up and prepared to be carried, especially on the back, or a load for an animal.
She adjusted the straps of her pack before the long climb.
The traders strapped a heavy pack to each animal for the mountain crossing.
Similarbackpack, rucksack, knapsack, bundle, load
Note
The oldest sense of the word, and the one most of the others grow from: Middle English pak, from a Germanic word that already meant "bundle, pack" and was shared with Middle Dutch. Its natural verb is make up, since you make up a pack before you carry it. Thoreau turns that phrase into a pun in 1854: "We do not ask him to make up his mind, but to make up his pack."
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Pack comes from Middle English pak and ultimately a Germanic word meaning ‘bundle, pack’, also represented in Middle Dutch. en.wiktionary.org
Thoreau wrote the quoted sentence, playing on ‘make up his mind’ and ‘make up his pack’. en.wikisource.org
The Thoreau passage dates to 1854. walden.org
6
nouncountable
A group of similar or related people or things thought of together as one whole, especially the main body of competitors in a race or field.
The leading cyclists pulled steadily away from the rest of the pack.
She finished ahead of the pack in nearly every subject.
UsageMostly with the: ahead of the pack, lead the pack, the rest of the pack.
Similarbunch, group
7
animal groupnouncountable
A group of wolves, dogs, or other animals that live or hunt together.
A lone wolf rarely survives as long as one in a pack.
The pack surrounded the wounded elk as dusk fell.
UsageUsually a pack of wolves, dogs, or hounds; such animals hunt in packs.
8
hot or cold padnouncountable
A pouch or pad filled with something cold, like ice or gel, or something warm, pressed against the body to ease pain or reduce swelling.
Hold the pack against the swollen knee for about fifteen minutes at a time.
After straining her back, she switched between hot and cold packs every few hours.
UsageUsually an ice pack, a cold pack, or a hot pack; you put or hold one on the injury.
Similarcompress
Note
Everyday first aid keeps an older medical habit alive: the wet sheets that hydropathy wrapped patients in were also called cold or wet packs. Today the word means a small pouch or pad, filled with ice, gel or something warm, that is held against an injury to ease pain or reduce swelling, sometimes switching between hot and cold.
9
solid massverbintransitive
To become compressed or settle together so as to form a dense, compact mass.
Damp grain tends to pack in the silo if it is not turned regularly.
The sediment packed into dense layers over many centuries.
UsageThe material is the subject, often with tightly, well, or down: wet sand packs tightly, the dirt packed down.
Similarcompact, cake, clump, consolidate
10
nouncountable
A large number or multitude of things or people.
The report turned out to be nothing but a pack of half-truths.
Her uncle dismissed the rumor as a pack of nonsense and refused to discuss it any further.
UsageMostly in a pack of lies and similar put-downs; it scorns, so praise with it sounds ironic.
Similarhost, heap, load, mass

Less common meanings

11
playing cardsnouncountable
A complete set of playing cards used for card games.
She drew the top card from the pack and turned it over.
Magicians often use a specially marked pack for their tricks.
UsageA pack of cards is also called a deck; you shuffle the pack and deal from it.
12
Cub Scoutsnouncountable
A group of Cub Scouts organized as a single unit for meetings and activities.
The pack earned badges for camping and first aid this year.
Two new boys joined the pack at the start of the term.
13
sea icenouncountable
A large expanse of floating pieces of ice driven together more or less closely on the sea.
The expedition was trapped when the pack closed around the hull.
Polar bears travel for miles across the pack in search of seals.
Note
Polar sailors use this word for a field of floes driven together by wind and current. It is set against fast ice, which stays anchored to the shore. Ships sail round the pack or work along its edge. Charles Kingsley's The Water Babies (1863) gives that edge its menace: "the pack rolled horribly upon the swell."
14
carry a gunverbslangtransitive
To carry a weapon, especially a firearm, on one's body.
Plenty of ranchers pack a sidearm when riding far from town.
She always packs a small revolver in her bag for protection.
UsageSet phrase packing heat; what was he packing? asks which weapon. Bare packing can mean other things.
Similarcarry, tote
15
send awayverbtransitive
To send someone away, often suddenly or firmly, sometimes with their belongings.
The principal packed the troublemaker off to a stricter school.
Every fall they pack their daughter off to college.
UsageUsually pack someone off to a place, with the person in the middle: packed him off to camp. Often dismissive.
Similarsend, ship, bundle, dispatch
Note
Shakespeare's Richard III bends it darkly, with George "packed with post horse up to heaven," sent off to his death rather than to school. For leaving under one's own steam, see the verb for departing in haste.
16
leave quicklyverbdatedintransitive
To leave or depart hurriedly, usually with off or away.
Poor Stella must pack off to town.
1723, Jonathan Swift, Stella at Wood-Park
You shall pack, / And never more darken my doors again.
1842, Alfred Tennyson, Dora
Similarleave, depart, decamp
Note
The bare verb, with no particle, once made a complete dismissal. In Tennyson's Dora (1842) the command is "You shall pack, / And never more darken my doors again." Jonathan Swift's line, written in 1723, "Poor Stella must pack off to town," shows the commoner pairing with off. Either way, the subject is the one who leaves, usually in a hurry and not entirely willingly.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Tennyson's Dora was first published in 1842. gutenberg.org
Dora contains the quoted particleless dismissal, spoken by William's father, farmer Allan. gutenberg.org
1723 is the composition date; Stella at Wood Park was first published in 1735. mss-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk
Jonathan Swift wrote the quoted line in Stella at Wood Park; it is narration about Stella. gutenberg.org
17
gangnouncountable
A group of people banded together for a harmful or dishonest purpose; a gang.
A pack of swindlers preyed on elderly residents for months.
He ran with a pack of troublemakers in his teenage years.
UsageUsually a pack of thieves, liars, or the like, and disapproving; such people roam in packs.
Similargang, band, crew, ring, mob
Note
Human packs borrow their menace from hunting animals. A pack of thieves or a pack of trolls is a band united in mischief, and such people are said to roam in packs. Freda Adler and Herbert Marcus Adler's Sisters in Crime describes London's "bovver birds" this way.
18
load an animalverbtransitive
To load (a pack animal) with goods or burdens for carrying.
Drivers pack their mules with crates before crossing the pass.
The guide packed the horses and set off at dawn.
Similarload
Oppositeunload
19
verbfigurativelytransitive
To load down or burden (someone or something), used figuratively, as with cares or troubles.
our thighs packed with wax, our mouths with honey
c. 1596, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth,. Epilogue.”
Similarburden, load, saddle
Oppositerelieve, unburden
20
seal tightverbtransitive
To make something impervious by filling or surrounding it with suitable material, or by fitting it so that air, water, or steam cannot pass.
Engineers pack the pump shaft to keep fluid from leaking out.
The mechanic packed the gland with greased fiber.
Similarseal, caulk, plug
Note
This sense belongs to mechanics and engineers: something is packed when sealing material is pressed around or into it. Mechanics pack pipe joints, pump shafts, and the piston of a steam engine to stop leaks. The object is the part being sealed, and with introduces the material used.
21
rugby forwardsnouncountable
The forwards in a rugby team (eight in Rugby Union, six in Rugby League) who, with the opposing forwards, make up the scrum.
The home pack overwhelmed their opponents in the second half.
Coaches rebuilt the pack around two powerful new props.
Similarforwards
Note
Rugby divides a team into the pack and the backs, and the pack is the forwards' collective name. Reports treat it as one body with a single will: "If the pack wasn't pummelling England," the Sunday Times wrote of South Africa in 2019. Players are said to pack down when they bind together to form a scrum.
22
face masknounUKcountablebritish
A cleansing or treating preparation of cream, paste, or clay, spread over the face or skin and left to work for a short while.
Spread the pack evenly over clean skin, avoiding the eyes, and rinse it off after ten minutes.
After a long week, she spread on a mud pack and relaxed while it dried on her skin.
UsageUsually a face pack or a mud pack; a face mask means much the same.
Similarmask
Note
It works differently from the cold or warm pad: that pad is held against a sore spot, while this pack is spread on, left briefly, then washed or peeled off.
23
block a shotverbslangtransitive
To block an opponent's shot forcefully, especially in basketball.
If you drive into the lane against their center, he will pack your shot into the third row.
The center packed the jump shot just before the buzzer.
Similarblock, swat, reject, stuff
24
fill a committeeverbtransitive
To make up or fill (a group such as a committee, jury, or court) unfairly with chosen members so as to secure a particular result.
The party tried to pack the electoral commission ahead of the count.
Opponents claimed he had packed the jury with sympathizers.
UsagePack a jury, committee, or court with chosen members; also a packed jury, court packing.
Similarstack
Note
Here public life has its own rigged deck: to pack a jury is to fill it with members chosen to deliver one verdict. The participle makes a sharp adjective, as when Francis Atterbury wrote in 1687 of a council "dwindling into […] a packed assembly." Compare the card-sharp's sense.
25
cheat at cardsverbtransitive
To sort and arrange the cards in a deck dishonestly so as to gain an unfair advantage.
The gambler would pack the cards whenever the stakes rose.
He was caught packing the deck during the final round.
Similarstack, rig
Note
Card games show the verb's cheating side. To pack cards is to arrange their order in secret so that the deal falls as the cheat intends. Alexander Pope's Epistle to Bathurst (1733) uses it for aristocratic petty fraud: "Mighty dukes pack cards for half a crown." Related senses cover rigged juries and councils and fraudulent plots.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
The line occurs in Pope's Epistle to Allen, Lord Bathurst, subtitled Of the Use of Riches, subsequently numbered III in Moral Essays. gutenberg.org
An Essay on Man first began publication in 1733. assets.cambridge.org
Pope wrote the quoted words about dukes cheating at cards for a small stake. gutenberg.org
26
rigverbobsoletetransitive
To contrive or arrange (something) unfairly or fraudulently; to plot.
Similarrig, fix, manipulate, engineer, contrive
27
gang upverbobsoleteintransitive
To join together with others for morally wrong purposes; to act in cahoots.
This naughty man / Shall face to face be brought to Margaret, / Who, I believe, was pack'd in all this wrong, / Hired to it by your brother.
1598, William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”
Similarcollude, conspire, connive, scheme
Note
Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing shows the conspiratorial use: Margaret, "I believe, was pack'd in all this wrong, / Hired to it by your brother." To be packed in a wrong is to be party to it, an accomplice rather than its author. Modern speakers would say in league or in cahoots.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Much Ado About Nothing is by William Shakespeare and contains this conspiratorial use of pack. en.wiktionary.org
The quoted words occur in the play. Leonato speaks them about Margaret; Margaret is the subject, not the speaker. shakespeare.mit.edu
Packed in this context means implicated in collusion or wrongdoing. en.wiktionary.org
28
flock togetherverbintransitive
Of animals, to gather and join up as a group that lives, moves, or hunts together, such as a flock, herd, or school.
Caribou pack into vast herds during the fall migration.
Sardines packed into a dense ball to confuse the circling predators.
UsageOften pack together or pack into a group: caribou pack into herds.
Similargather, congregate, flock, herd, bunch
Oppositescatter, disperse
Note
In this sense the animals do the gathering themselves: "the grouse or the perch begin to pack." It turns the noun for hounds and wolves into an action and applies it to birds and fish as readily as to dogs. Begin to pack marks the moment a scattered population draws together into a group.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
The animal sense is intransitive and means gathering into groups. en.wiktionary.org
The quoted example is attested verbatim in the public-domain Webster text. gutenberg.org
Pack is a noun for groups of hounds and wolves. en.wiktionary.org
The verb derives from the noun. en.wiktionary.org
29
red balls (snooker)nouncountable
In cue sports, a compact cluster of balls other than the cue ball, usually the reds in snooker.
She opened the pack early to set up a long break.
The cue ball nestled right behind the pack of reds.
Similarcluster
Note
Snooker players treat the pack as something to be opened. The reds sit bunched together until a shot splits them, and how cleanly they spread decides what can be scored next. Pool uses the word for any tight cluster of object balls. The usual verbs are open, split and break into, which show that the pack is a problem to be solved, not just a position.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Snooker players split the clustered reds by sending the cue ball into them. en.wikipedia.org
Opening the pack affects opportunities to continue scoring. sites.google.com
30
noun
A gathered group of the sandpipers known as knots.
31
noun
A bundled set of barrel staves, ready to be assembled into a cask.
32
noun
A stack of iron sheets passed through the rolling mill together.
33
noun
In hydropathy, a wrapping of sheets around a patient as a treatment, named by method, such as a cold or wet pack.
34
nounslang
A disreputable or immoral person, especially a promiscuous one.
35
noun
In roller derby, the biggest cluster of blockers, drawn from the two sides, kept close together on the track.
36
verb
In hydropathy, to swathe a patient in a damp or dry sheet beneath many layers of covering.
37
verb
To merge several telegraph messages into one sending so the charge is lower.
38
verbdialectalUSWestern
To carry goods in bundles borne by porters or beasts of burden.
39
verbslang
Of a man, to be well endowed with a big penis.
40
verb
To wear padding or a prosthetic penis under clothing to create a male-looking crotch.
41
verb
Of rugby forwards, to work together as a tight unit, especially in scrummaging technique.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of pack apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 3, 5–8, 10–13, 17, 21–22, 29

From Middle English pak, from Old English *pæcca and/or Middle Dutch pak, both going back to Proto-Germanic *pakkô meaning 'bundle, pack'. It is related to Dutch pak, German Pack, and Swedish packe.

Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

English pack comes from Middle English pak, with reconstructed Old English *pæcca and/or Middle Dutch pak as possible earlier sources. en.wiktionary.org
Both proposed sources ultimately descend from reconstructed Proto-Germanic *pakkô, meaning 'bundle, pack'. en.wiktionary.org
Pack is related to Dutch pak, German Pack, and Swedish packe. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 1–2, 4, 9, 14–16, 18–20, 23–28

The Middle English verb pakken was made from the noun 'pack'. Middle Dutch and Middle Low German each had a matching verb, packen, also meaning 'to pack'.