pack
♦♦ pack /p'æk/ (packs packing packed)
1 [VERB] V n, V
When you pack a bag, you put clothes and other things into it, because you are leaving a place or going on holiday.
When I was 17, I packed my bags and left home...
I packed and said goodbye to Charlie.
● packing [N-UNCOUNT]
She left Frances to finish her packing.
2 [VERB] V n, V n in n, V-ed
When people pack things, for example in a factory, they put them into containers or parcels so that they can be transported and sold.
They offered me a job packing goods in a warehouse...
Machines now exist to pack olives in jars.
...sardines packed in oil.
● packing [N-UNCOUNT]
His onions cost 9p a lb wholesale; packing and transport costs 10p.
3 [VERB] V into n, V n
If people or things pack into a place or if they pack a place, there are so many of them that the place is full.
Hundreds of thousands of people packed into the mosque...
Seventy thousand people will pack the stadium.
= cram
4 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
A pack of things is a collection of them that is sold or given together in a box or bag.
The club will send a free information pack.
...a pack of cigarettes...
5 [N-COUNT]
A pack is a bag containing your possessions that you carry on your back when you are travelling.
I hid the money in my pack.
= rucksack, backpack
6 [N-COUNT] usu N of n
You can refer to a group of people who go around together as a pack, especially when it is a large group that you feel threatened by.
...a pack of journalists eager to question him...
7 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
A pack of wolves or dogs is a group of them that hunt together.
8 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
A pack of playing cards is a complete set of playing cards. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use deck)
9
see also packed, packing
10 [PHRASE] PHR after v, v-link PHR
If you say that an account is a pack of lies, you mean that it is completely untrue.
You told me a pack of lies.
11 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you send someone packing, you make them go away. (INFORMAL)
I decided I wanted to live alone and I sent him packing.brat pack (brat packs)
[N-COUNT]
A brat pack is a group of young people, especially actors or writers, who are popular or successful at the moment. (JOURNALISM)
...the Hollywood Brat Pack.face pack (face packs)
[N-COUNT]
A face pack is a thick substance which you spread on your face, allow to dry for a short time, and then remove, in order to clean your skin thoroughly. (BRIT; in AM, use face mask)flat pack (flat packs)
also flat-pack
[N-COUNT] usu N n
Flat pack furniture is furniture such as shelves and cupboards which you buy as a number of separate pieces and assemble yourself. (BRIT)ice pack (ice packs)
[N-COUNT]
An ice pack is a bag full of ice which is used to cool parts of the body when they are injured or painful.pack ani|mal (pack animals)
[N-COUNT]
A pack animal is an animal such as a horse or donkey that is used to carry things on journeys.pack ice
[N-UNCOUNT]
Pack ice is an area of ice that is floating on the sea. It is made up of pieces of ice that have been pushed together.pack in
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
If you pack something in, you stop doing it. (mainly BRIT INFORMAL)
I'd just packed in a job the day before...
Pack it in. Stop being spiteful.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V P n (not pron), also V n P
If someone packs in things or people, they fit a lot of them into a limited space or time.
Prisons are having to pack in as many inmates as possible...
It's kind of a referendum, though a lot of issues are packed in.
= cram in
[PHRASE] V inflects
If a play, film or event packs them in, lots of people go to see it.
`Blow your head!' is still packing them in at Camden's Jazz Café every Friday night.pack into
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P n
If someone packs a lot of something into a limited space or time, they fit a lot into it.
I have tried to pack a good deal into a few words.
= cram into
2 [PHRASAL VERB] usu passive, be V-ed P n
If people or things are packed into a place, so many of them are put in there that the place becomes very full.
Some 700 people were packed into a hotel room.
= cram intopack off
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron) to-inf, V n P to n, also V n P
If you pack someone off somewhere, you send them there to stay for a period of time. (INFORMAL)
He packed off his wife and children to stay in a caravan in Wales...
I finally succeeded in packing her off to bed.pack up
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P, V P n (not pron), also V n P
If you pack up or if you pack up your things, you put your possessions or the things you have been using in a case or bag, because you are leaving.
They packed up and went home...
He began packing up his things.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P
If a machine or a part of the body packs up, it stops working. (BRIT INFORMAL)
In the end it was his stomach and lungs that packed up...rat pack
[N-SING] usu the N
People sometimes refer to the group of journalists and photographers who follow famous people around as the rat pack, especially when they think that their behaviour is unacceptable. (BRIT)
1 [VERB] V n, V
When you pack a bag, you put clothes and other things into it, because you are leaving a place or going on holiday.
When I was 17, I packed my bags and left home...
I packed and said goodbye to Charlie.
● packing [N-UNCOUNT]
She left Frances to finish her packing.
2 [VERB] V n, V n in n, V-ed
When people pack things, for example in a factory, they put them into containers or parcels so that they can be transported and sold.
They offered me a job packing goods in a warehouse...
Machines now exist to pack olives in jars.
...sardines packed in oil.
● packing [N-UNCOUNT]
His onions cost 9p a lb wholesale; packing and transport costs 10p.
3 [VERB] V into n, V n
If people or things pack into a place or if they pack a place, there are so many of them that the place is full.
Hundreds of thousands of people packed into the mosque...
Seventy thousand people will pack the stadium.
= cram
4 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
A pack of things is a collection of them that is sold or given together in a box or bag.
The club will send a free information pack.
...a pack of cigarettes...
5 [N-COUNT]
A pack is a bag containing your possessions that you carry on your back when you are travelling.
I hid the money in my pack.
= rucksack, backpack
6 [N-COUNT] usu N of n
You can refer to a group of people who go around together as a pack, especially when it is a large group that you feel threatened by.
...a pack of journalists eager to question him...
7 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
A pack of wolves or dogs is a group of them that hunt together.
8 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
A pack of playing cards is a complete set of playing cards. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use deck)
9
see also packed, packing
10 [PHRASE] PHR after v, v-link PHR
If you say that an account is a pack of lies, you mean that it is completely untrue.
You told me a pack of lies.
11 [PHRASE] V inflects
If you send someone packing, you make them go away. (INFORMAL)
I decided I wanted to live alone and I sent him packing.brat pack (brat packs)
[N-COUNT]
A brat pack is a group of young people, especially actors or writers, who are popular or successful at the moment. (JOURNALISM)
...the Hollywood Brat Pack.face pack (face packs)
[N-COUNT]
A face pack is a thick substance which you spread on your face, allow to dry for a short time, and then remove, in order to clean your skin thoroughly. (BRIT; in AM, use face mask)flat pack (flat packs)
also flat-pack
[N-COUNT] usu N n
Flat pack furniture is furniture such as shelves and cupboards which you buy as a number of separate pieces and assemble yourself. (BRIT)ice pack (ice packs)
[N-COUNT]
An ice pack is a bag full of ice which is used to cool parts of the body when they are injured or painful.pack ani|mal (pack animals)
[N-COUNT]
A pack animal is an animal such as a horse or donkey that is used to carry things on journeys.pack ice
[N-UNCOUNT]
Pack ice is an area of ice that is floating on the sea. It is made up of pieces of ice that have been pushed together.pack in
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V n P
If you pack something in, you stop doing it. (mainly BRIT INFORMAL)
I'd just packed in a job the day before...
Pack it in. Stop being spiteful.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron), V P n (not pron), also V n P
If someone packs in things or people, they fit a lot of them into a limited space or time.
Prisons are having to pack in as many inmates as possible...
It's kind of a referendum, though a lot of issues are packed in.
= cram in
[PHRASE] V inflects
If a play, film or event packs them in, lots of people go to see it.
`Blow your head!' is still packing them in at Camden's Jazz Café every Friday night.pack into
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V n P n
If someone packs a lot of something into a limited space or time, they fit a lot into it.
I have tried to pack a good deal into a few words.
= cram into
2 [PHRASAL VERB] usu passive, be V-ed P n
If people or things are packed into a place, so many of them are put in there that the place becomes very full.
Some 700 people were packed into a hotel room.
= cram intopack off
[PHRASAL VERB] V P n (not pron) to-inf, V n P to n, also V n P
If you pack someone off somewhere, you send them there to stay for a period of time. (INFORMAL)
He packed off his wife and children to stay in a caravan in Wales...
I finally succeeded in packing her off to bed.pack up
1 [PHRASAL VERB] V P, V P n (not pron), also V n P
If you pack up or if you pack up your things, you put your possessions or the things you have been using in a case or bag, because you are leaving.
They packed up and went home...
He began packing up his things.
2 [PHRASAL VERB] V P
If a machine or a part of the body packs up, it stops working. (BRIT INFORMAL)
In the end it was his stomach and lungs that packed up...rat pack
[N-SING] usu the N
People sometimes refer to the group of journalists and photographers who follow famous people around as the rat pack, especially when they think that their behaviour is unacceptable. (BRIT)