pack
pronunciation
How to pronounce pack in British English:
UK [pæk]
How to pronounce pack in American English:
US [pæk]
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- Noun:
- a large indefinite number
- a complete collection of similar things
- a small parcel (as of cigarettes or film)
- an association of criminals
- an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
- a group of hunting animals
- a cream that cleanses and tones the skin
- a sheet or blanket (either dry or wet) to wrap around the body for its therapeutic effect
- a bundle (especially one carried on the back)
-
- Verb:
- arrange in a container
- fill to capacity
- compress into a wad
- carry, as on one's back
- set up a committee or legislative body with one's own supporters so as to influence the outcome
- have with oneself; have on one's person
- press tightly together or cram
- hike with a backpack
- press down tightly
- seal with packing
- have the property of being packable or compactable or of compacting easily
- load with a pack
- treat the body or any part of it by wrapping it, as with blankets or sheets, and applying compresses to it, or stuffing it to provide cover, containment, or therapy, or to absorb blood
Word Origin
- pack
- pack: [13] The ultimate origins of pack are unknown. English borrowed it from one of the Germanic languages of northeastern Europe (both Middle Dutch and Middle Low German had pak), but where they got it from is not clear. Its derivatives package [16] and packet [16] are both English formations.
- pack (n.)
- "bundle," early 13c., probably from a Low German word (compare Middle Dutch pac, pack "bundle," Middle Low German pak, Middle Flemish pac, attested from late 12c.), originally a term of wool traders in Flanders; or possibly from Old Norse pakki. All are of unknown origin. Italian pacco is a Dutch loan word; French pacque probably is from Flemish. Meaning "set of persons" (usually of a low character) is c. 1300, older than sense of "group of hunting animals" (early 15c.). Extended to collective sets of playing cards (1590s), floating ice (1791), cigarettes (1924), and submarines (1943). Meaning "knapsack on a frame" is attested from 1916. Pack of lies first attested 1763.
- pack (v.)
- c. 1300, "to put together in a pack," from pack (n.), possibly influenced by Anglo-French empaker (late 13c.) and Medieval Latin paccare "pack." Some senses suggesting "make secret arrangement" are from an Elizabethan mispronunciation of pact. Sense of "to carry or convey in a pack" (1805) led to general sense of "to carry in any manner;" hence to pack heat "carry a gun," underworld slang from 1940s; "to be capable of delivering" (a punch, etc.), from 1921. Related: Packed; packing.