packing

1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of pack

plural packings

1. The action of the verb.
   1. countableuncountableThe action of putting things together, especially of putting clothes into a suitcase for a journey.
   2. countableuncountablemathematicsThe spatial arrangement of objects, items or constituent parts.
   3. countableuncountableThe gathering of birds, animals etc. into a pack.
   4. countableuncountableball gamesThe forming of players into a scrum.
2. As a concrete noun.
   1. countableuncountableMaterial used to fill in the space around something, especially to make a piston etc. watertight or airtight.

      A kind of fine Norwegian hay, used as packing in the finnesko to keep the feet warm and to make the fur boot fit firmly.

      1913, Captain R. F. Scott, Scott's Last Expedition Volume I

   2. countableuncountableMaterial used to wrap a product for sale etc.; packaging.

      Among the inner packings in use are expanded polystyrene (popcorn), plastic-encapsulated air (air bubbles), various types of paper products, foam-in-place, molded polystyrene, and corrugated partitions (egg crating).

      2013, Eugene L. Magad, Total Materials Management, →ISBN, page 375

   3. countableuncountableA fee charged to cover the costs of packaging.
   4. countableuncountableSpecial material used to fill containers or vessels for certain chemically related applications.

      Packing in a packed bed, or a column such as a distillation column or a chromatography column

3. abbreviationclippingcountableuncountableClipping of meatpacking.