a cold towel, ice bag, etc., applied to the body to reduce swelling, relieve pain, etc.
Also called cold-pack method,. Also called raw-pack method. a method of canning uncooked food by placing it in hot jars or cans and sterilizing in a bath of boiling water or steam.
to place a cold pack on.
to cold-pack a feverish patient.
to can (food) by the cold-pack method.
a method of lowering the body temperature by wrapping a person in a sheet soaked in cold water
the sheet so used
a tinning process in which raw food is packed in cans or jars and then heated
First recorded in 1905–10
First recorded in 1920–25
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A local handyman, Arsenio García, gingerly guarded a carry-on with a melting cold pack.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
I wore fleece and sweatpants under blankets and slept comfortably on an autumn night that bottomed out around 50 degrees, but if you run cold, pack thermal base layers.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 20, 2023
It arrives at physicians’ offices in a shoebox-size kit equipped with a blood vial, a cold pack and instructions.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 17, 2022
Laura says she could feel her lip becoming increasingly swollen, and her therapist tried massaging it and putting a cold pack on it.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2021
The cold pack makes me shiver, and I realize I should have changed out of my wet clothes before eating.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
This is the method that I shall mostly refer to in this book, and if I should omit the phrase "cold-pack" you will know that I am referring to it.
From Every Step in Canning by Gray, Grace Viall
I can’t put up squirrels for my neighbors by the cold-pack process.”
From Peggy in Her Blue Frock by Preston, Alice B.
This illustration likewise serves to demonstrate that any food may be successfully canned by the one-period cold-pack method, a claim that cannot be made for the other canning methods.
From Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 5: Fruit and Fruit Desserts; Canning and Drying; Jelly Making, Preserving and Pickling; Confections; Beverages; the Planning of Meals by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
It is used rather extensively in the South, where they say the conditions do not favor "cold-pack."
From Every Step in Canning by Gray, Grace Viall
They are the "open-kettle," the "intermittent," the "cold-water" and the "cold-pack" methods.
From Every Step in Canning by Gray, Grace Viall
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
