packing

1 of 2

noun

pack·​ing ˈpa-kiŋ 

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

packing

2 of 2

present participle of pack entry 2, pack entry 3

Examples of packing in a Sentence

Noun

We finished all our packing yesterday.

I used some old newspapers for packing.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

My usual double-check got lost in the college packing shuffle. — Robert Duffer, AJC.com, 2 Oct. 2026

Richard Uihlein, chief executive of the shipping and packing supplies company Uline, has given the campaign $17 million. — Dakota Smith, Los Angeles Times, 2 Oct. 2026

Consider a high-speed depalletizer feeding a packing station. — Allan Malcolm, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026

Meanwhile, out west, the San Diego Padres sent the Chicago Cubs packing. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing packing

• court packing
• packing crate
• packing peanuts
• packing them in
• send packing

Rhymes for packing

• backing
• blacking
• clacking
• cracking
• hacking
• jacking
• lacking
• racking
• sacking
• slacking
• smacking
• snacking

Medical 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

2

: the material used in packing