Send Him Packing: Packing as Dismissal
Packing is filling a case, and the material used to protect goods. English also uses it for being dismissed abruptly.
Packing is the act of filling a container, and the material that cushions what is inside. The idiom is older than it sounds: to *send someone packing* has meant to dismiss them curtly since the sixteenth century, from the image of a servant told to pack a bag and leave.
- Filling a case or container. *Packing takes longer than unpacking.*
- Protective material. *Foam packing.*
- Send someone packing — dismiss abruptly. *They sent him packing.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | packing | Bubble packing. |
| Verb | pack | Pack a bag. |
| Past | packed | A packed hall. |
| Noun | packaging | Cardboard packaging. |
| Related | unpack | Unpack the boxes. |
How it is used in a sentence
- I still have the packing to do.Uncountable.
- The hall was packed by seven.Packed means full.
- The board sent the chief executive packing.Abrupt dismissal.
Packing materials
- Bubble wrap — air pockets in plastic film
- Packing peanuts — loose fill, now often starch-based
- Corrugated board — fluted card, the standard box material
- Void fill — anything filling empty space so goods cannot move
- Palletising — stacking boxes on a pallet for transport
From *pack*, a bundle, from Middle Dutch or Low German *pak*. The word arrived with the wool trade, which shipped goods in packs.
Where does *send packing* come from?
From the sixteenth century, meaning to tell someone to pack up and go. It has always implied a brusque dismissal.
Packing or packaging?
Packing is the act, and the loose material inside. Packaging is the container and its design.