1
a
: the action or process of packing something
also
: a method of packing
b
: the processing of food and especially meat for future sale
2
: material (such as a covering or stuffing) used to protect packed goods (as for shipping)
also
: material used for making airtight or watertight
packing for a faucet
3
US politics
: a form of gerrymandering in which election districts are drawn in such a way that voters likely to support the opposing party are concentrated into a single district to limit the influence of their votes in other districts
… it calculates the impact of the two mechanisms that create gerrymandering. The first of these is "packing," which means one side's votes have been overconcentrated so they win by huge margins in a small number of districts (creating a surplus of votes).—
G. Terry Madonna and Michael Young
compare cracking sense 2
G. Terry Madonna and Michael YoungExamples of packing in a Sentence
We finished all our packing yesterday.
I used some old newspapers for packing.
Recent Examples on the Web
When curating her fashion month packing list, Vergara ensured an elegant slip dress made the cut.
—Daisy Maldonado, InStyle, 5 Mar. 2026
These shoes are also great for travel, as they’re intelligently designed to collapse flat for easy packing.
—Caroline Hughes, Travel + Leisure, 5 Mar. 2026
However, instead of keeping the crystalline order, the team developed a method to maintain the tight packing of the disks while removing the repeating structure that defines crystals.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 5 Mar. 2026
The packing material, which may be paper, peat, or wood shavings, also should still be damp, not sopping wet.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 4 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for packing
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Daisy Maldonado, InStyle, 5 Mar. 2026
These shoes are also great for travel, as they’re intelligently designed to collapse flat for easy packing.
—Caroline Hughes, Travel + Leisure, 5 Mar. 2026
However, instead of keeping the crystalline order, the team developed a method to maintain the tight packing of the disks while removing the repeating structure that defines crystals.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 5 Mar. 2026
The packing material, which may be paper, peat, or wood shavings, also should still be damp, not sopping wet.
—Arricca Elin Sansone, Southern Living, 4 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for packing
Cite this Entry
“Packing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/packing. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
packing
noun
pack·ing
ˈpak-iŋ 
1
: the therapeutic application of a pack
hemorrhage … could not be controlled by suture or packing—The Journal of the American Medical Association
The Journal of the American Medical Association2
: the material used in packing
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