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
There’s one exception to the packing cube rule, though: jeans.
—Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 2 Aug. 2025
That’s because thawing while still in the reduced oxygen packing turns the fish into a bacteria breeding ground.
—David J. Neal
august 1, Miami Herald, 1 Aug. 2025
Thursday is the day for Block, Instacart, Pinterest, SMIC, Sony, and Twilio.
Thoughts and prayers for all the tech CFOs out there—plus the CISOs packing for Black Hat and Def Con.
—Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 1 Aug. 2025
Yet as Gramm and Boudreaux correctly point out, the large Chicago meat packing houses actually supported the legislation!
—John C. Goodman, Forbes.com, 29 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for packing
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Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 2 Aug. 2025
That’s because thawing while still in the reduced oxygen packing turns the fish into a bacteria breeding ground.
—David J. Neal
august 1, Miami Herald, 1 Aug. 2025
Thursday is the day for Block, Instacart, Pinterest, SMIC, Sony, and Twilio.
Thoughts and prayers for all the tech CFOs out there—plus the CISOs packing for Black Hat and Def Con.
—Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 1 Aug. 2025
Yet as Gramm and Boudreaux correctly point out, the large Chicago meat packing houses actually supported the legislation!
—John C. Goodman, Forbes.com, 29 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for packing
Cite this Entry
“Packing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/packing. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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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