Pack

Pack, pak, n. a bundle made to be carried on the back: a collection, stock, or store: a bundle of some particular kind or quantity, as of wool, 480 or 240 lb.: the quantity of fish packed: a complete set of cards: a number of animals herding together or kept together for hunting: a number of persons combined for bad purposes: any great number: a large extent of floating and broken ice: a wet sheet for folding round the body to allay inflammation, fever, &c.—v.t. to press together and fasten up: to place in order: to crowd: to assort, bring together, select, or manipulate persons, cards, &c. for some unjust object: to send away, as from one's presence or employment: to surround a joint, &c., with any substance to prevent leaking, &c.—v.i. to store things away anywhere for safe keeping, &c.: to settle into a firm mass: to admit of being put into compact shape: to depart in haste.—ns. Pack′age, the act of packing, also something packed: a bundle or bale: a charge made for packing; Pack′-an′imal, a beast of burden used to carry goods on its back; Pack′-cinch (-sinsh), a wide girth of canvas, &c., having a hook and ring attached for adjusting the load of a pack-animal; Pack′-cloth, a cloth in which goods are tied up: packsheet; Pack′er, one who packs: one who cures and packs provisions: any device to fill the space between the tubing and the sides of an oil-well, &c.; Pack′et, a small package: a ship or vessel employed in carrying packets of letters, passengers, &c.: a vessel plying regularly between one port and another (also Pack′et-boat, Pack′et-ship, &c.).—v.t. to bind in a packet or parcel: to send in a packet.—ns. Pack′et-day, the day of the departure or arrival of a mail-ship; Pack′et-note (see Note-paper); Pack′-horse, a horse used to carry goods in panniers: a drudge; Pack′-ice, a collection of large pieces of floating ice; Pack′ing, the act of putting into packs or of tying up for carriage: material for packing: anything used to fill an empty space, or to make a joint close, as the elastic ring round a moving rod or piston to make it a tight fit; Pack′ing-box, -case, a box in which goods are packed: a hollow place round the opening of a steam cylinder, filled with some soft substance which, being pressed hard against the piston-rod, makes it a tight fit; Pack′ing-need′le, or Sack-needle, a strong needle for sewing up packages; Pack′ing-pā′per, a strong and thick kind of wrapping-paper; Pack′ing-press, a press for squeezing goods into small compass for packing; Pack′ing-sheet, or Pack′sheet, coarse cloth for packing goods; Pack′-load, the load an animal can carry on its back; Pack′man, a peddler or a man who carries a pack; Pack′-mule, a mule used for carrying burdens; Pack′-sadd′le, a saddle for packs or burdens; Pack′-thread, a coarse thread used to sew up packages; Pack′-train, a train of loaded pack-animals; Pack′way, a narrow path fit for pack-horses.—Pack a jury, meeting, &c., to fill up with persons of a particular kind for one's own purposes.—Send one packing, to dismiss summarily. [Prob. Celt.; Gael. and Ir. pac, Bret. pak, a bundle; cf. Ger. pack, Dut. pak.]