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Definition of pack off - 6 dictionary results

pack

1[pak]
–noun
1. a group of things wrapped or tied together for easy handling or carrying; a bundle, esp. one to be carried on the back of an animal or a person: a mule pack; a hiker's pack.
2. a definite quantity or standard measure of something wrapped up or otherwise assembled for merchandising (sometimes used in combination): a pack of cigarettes; a six-pack of beer.
3. the quantity of something that is packaged, canned, or the like, at one time, in one season, etc.: last year's salmon pack.
4. a group of people or things: a pack of fools; a pack of lies.
5. a group of certain animals of the same kind, esp. predatory ones: a pack of wolves.
6. Hunting. a number of hounds, esp. foxhounds and beagles, regularly used together in a hunt.
7. a complete set of playing cards, usually 52 in number; deck.
8. backpack.
9. a considerable area of pieces of floating ice driven or packed together.
10. Metalworking. a pile of metal sheets for hot-rolling together.
11. Medicine/Medical.
a. a wrapping of the body in wet or dry clothes for therapeutic purposes.
b. the cloths so used.
c. Obsolete. the state of being so wrapped.
12. Mining.
a. Also called pack wall. a rubble wall for supporting a roof.
b. any of various other roof supports of timber, timber and rubble, or rubble and wire mesh.
13. a cosmetic material, usually of a pastelike consistency, applied either to the face or to the hair and scalp: a mud pack; a beauty pack; a henna pack.
14. pac 2 (def. 1).
15. Obsolete. a plot; conspiracy.
16. Obsolete. a low or worthless person.
–verb (used with object)
17. to make into a pack or bundle.
18. to form into a group or compact mass.
19. to fill with anything compactly arranged: to pack a trunk.
20. to put into or arrange compactly in a trunk, valise, etc., as for traveling or storage: I packed a two-week supply of clothes for the trip.
21. to press or crowd together within; cram: The crowd packed the gallery.
22. to prepare for marketing by putting into containers or packages: to pack fruit for shipping.
23. to make airtight, vaportight, or watertight by stuffing: to pack the piston of a steam engine.
24. to cover or envelop with something pressed closely around.
25. to load, as with packs: We packed the mules and then set off for the lake.
26. to carry or wear, esp. as part of one's usual equipment: to pack a gun.
27. Informal. to deliver (a powerful blow, strong message, etc.): He packs a better punch than any heavyweight in years. His speech packed a powerful plea for peace.
28. to treat with a therapeutic pack.
–verb (used without object)
29. to pack goods in compact form, as for transportation or storage (often fol. by up).
30. to place clothes and personal items in a suitcase, trunk, etc., preparatory to traveling.
31. to be capable of or suitable for compact storage or packing for transportation: articles that pack well.
32. to crowd together, as persons: The audience packed into the auditorium.
33. to become compacted: Wet snow packs readily.
34. to collect into a group: The grouse began to pack.
–adjective
35. transporting, or used in transporting, a pack or load: pack animals.
36. compressed into a pack; packed.
37. used in or adapted for packing: pack equipment.
38. Chiefly Scot. (of animals) tame.
39. pack in or up, to relinquish or give up; quit: One failure was no reason to pack the whole experiment in. After thirty years of touring, the violinist packed his career up and retired.
40. pack off or away,
a. to dispatch: We packed the kids off to camp for the summer.
b. to leave hastily.
41. pack it in,
a. to give up; abandon one's efforts: In 1972 we packed it in and moved back to Florida.
b. to cease being a nuisance.

Origin:
1175–1225; (n.) ME pak, packe < MD pac or perh. MLG pak; (v.) ME pakken < MD or MLG


1. See package. 4. band, company, crew. 5. See flock 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

pack  (n.)
"bundle," c.1225, probably from a Low Ger. word (cf. M.Du. pac, pack "bundle," M.L.G. pak, M.Flem. pac, attested from 1199), originally a term of wool traders in Flanders; or possibly from O.N. pakki, all of unknown origin. It. pacco is a Du. loan word. 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 (1597), floating ice (1791), cigarettes (1924), and submarines (1943). Meaning "knapsack on a frame" is attested from 1916. Pack-horse is from c.1475; packsaddle "saddle for supporting packs on the back of a mount" is from 1388 (pakke sadil). Pack of lies first attested 1763.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Legal Dictionary

Main Entry: pack
Function: transitive verb
: to influence the composition of (as a political agency) so as to bring about a desired result <pack a jury>
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 2pack
Function: transitive verb
: to cover or surround with a pack <packed it away from the operative field with gauze packs—R. P. Parsons>; specifically : to envelop (a patient) in a wet or dry sheet or blanket
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

pack (pāk)
v. packed, pack·ing, packs

  1. To fill, stuff, plug, or tampon.

  2. To enwrap or envelop the body in a sheet, blanket, or other covering.

  3. To apply a dressing or covering to a surgical site.

n.
  1. The swathing of a patient or a body part in hot, cold, wet, or dry materials, such as cloth towels, sheets, or blankets.

  2. The materials so used.

  3. An ice pack; an ice bag.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

pack off

Also, pack someone or something off. Send someone (or something) away unceremoniously, as in As soon as the children are packed off to bed, I'll call you back, or She told Anne she'd pack her things off as soon as she had a chance. [First half of 1700s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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