dunnage
Americannoun
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baggage or personal effects.
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loose material laid beneath or wedged among objects carried by ship or rail to prevent injury from chafing or moisture, or to provide ventilation.
verb (used with object)
noun
Etymology
Origin of dunnage
1615–25; earlier dynnage; compare Anglo-Latin dennagium dunnage; of obscure origin
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But anybody who can tell a top carling from a garboard strake will want a copy of Spring Tides in his dunnage the next time he does a windward dozen.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Passengers groped about their staterooms in search of fur coats; the cooks burned hatch covers and dunnage in their stoves.
From Time Magazine Archive
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He dropped his dunnage bag as the mate closed the door and turned the bolt, and his eyes roamed about the cabin.
From The Ice Pilot by Leverage, Henry
The lucky ones were told to get their dunnage ready and report at the prison entrance at half past ten.
From Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors: Tales of 1812 by Barnes, James
Every man was allowed to take his dunnage, and the prisoners on board the Southampton were given the run of the forward and main holds, although the hatchways were closely guarded by armed sentinels.
From Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors: Tales of 1812 by Barnes, James
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.