3 VERB If people or things pack into a place or if they pack a place, there are so many of them that the place is full. □ [V + into ] Hundreds of thousands of people packed into the mosque. □ [V n] Seventy thousand people will pack the stadium.
4 N‑COUNT A pack of things is a collection of them that is sold or given together in a box or bag. □ The club will send a free information pack. □ [+ of ] …a pack of playing cards.
5 N‑COUNT A pack is a bag containing your possessions that you carry on your back when you are travelling. □ I hid the money in my pack.
6 N‑COUNT You can refer to a group of people who go around together as a pack , especially when it is a large group that you feel threatened by. □ [+ of ] …a pack of journalists eager to question him.
7 N‑COUNT A pack of wolves or dogs is a group of them that hunt together.
8 N‑COUNT A pack of playing cards is a complete set of playing cards. [mainly BRIT ] in AM, usually use deck 9 → see also packed , packing
10 PHRASE If you say that an account is a pack of lies , you mean that it is completely untrue. □ You told me a pack of lies.
11 PHRASE If you send someone packing , you make them go away. [INFORMAL ] □ I decided I wanted to live alone and I sent him packing.
▸ pack in
1 PHRASAL VERB If you pack something in , you stop doing it. [mainly BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V P n] I'd just packed in a job the day before. □ [V n P ] Pack it in. Stop being spiteful.
2 PHRASAL VERB If someone packs in things or people, they fit a lot of them into a limited space or time. □ [V P n] Prisons are having to pack in as many inmates as possible. □ [be V -ed P ] It's kind of a referendum, though a lot of issues are packed in. [Also V n P ] ● PHRASE If a play, film or event packs them in , lots of people go to see it. [INFORMAL ] □ 'Blow your head!' is still packing them in at Camden's Jazz Café every Friday night.
▸ pack into
1 PHRASAL VERB If someone packs a lot of something into a limited space or time, they fit a lot into it. □ [V n P n] I have tried to pack a good deal into a few words.
2 PHRASAL VERB [usu passive] If people or things are packed into a place, so many of them are put in there that the place becomes very full. □ [be V -ed P n] Some 700 people were packed into a hotel room.
▸ pack off PHRASAL VERB If you pack someone off somewhere, you send them there to stay for a period of time. [INFORMAL ] □ [V P n + to ] She had mixed feelings about packing off her 13-year-old to boarding school. □ [V n P + to ] I finally succeeded in packing her off to bed. [Also V n P ]
▸ pack up
1 PHRASAL VERB If you pack up or if you pack up your things, you put your possessions or the things you have been using in a case or bag, because you are leaving. □ [V P ] They packed up and went home. □ [V P n] He began packing up his things. [Also V n P ]
2 PHRASAL VERB If a machine or a part of the body packs up , it stops working. [BRIT , INFORMAL ] □ [V P ] In the end it was his stomach and lungs that packed up.
pack|age ◆◆◇ /pæ k I dʒ/ (packages , packaging , packaged )
1 N‑COUNT A package is a small parcel. □ I tore open the package. □ …a package addressed to Miss Claire Montgomery.
2 N‑COUNT A package is a small container in which a quantity of something is sold. Packages are either small boxes made of thin cardboard, or bags or envelopes made of paper or plastic. [mainly AM ] □ [+ of ] …a package of doughnuts. □ It is listed among the ingredients on the package. in BRIT, usually use packet 3 N‑COUNT A package is a set of proposals that are made by a government or organization and which must be accepted or rejected as a group. □ [+ of ] …a package of measures aimed at improving child welfare.
4 VERB [usu passive] When a product is packaged , it is put into containers to be sold. □ [be V -ed] The beans are then ground and packaged for sale as ground coffee. □ [V -ed] Packaged foods have to show a list of ingredients.
5 VERB [usu passive] If something is packaged in a particular way, it is presented or advertised in that way in order to make it seem attractive or interesting. □ [be V -ed] A city has to be packaged properly to be attractive to tourists. □ [be V -ed + as ] …entertainment packaged as information.
6 N‑COUNT [usu N n] A package tour, or in British English a package holiday, is a holiday arranged by a travel company in which your travel and your accommodation are booked for you.
pa ck|age deal (package deals ) N‑COUNT [usu sing] A package deal is a set of offers or proposals which is made by a government or an organization, and which must be accepted or rejected as a whole.
pack|ag|ing /pæ k I dʒ I ŋ/ N‑UNCOUNT Packaging is the container or covering that something is sold in. □ It is selling very well, in part because the packaging is so attractive.