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Synonyms

pack up

British  

verb

  1. to put (things) away in a proper or suitable place

  2. informal to give up (an attempt) or stop doing (something)

    if you don't do your work better, you might as well pack up

  3. (intr) (of an engine, machine, etc) to fail to operate; break down

  4. engineering to use packing to adjust the height of a component or machine before it is secured in its correct position or alignment

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

Purchases are often limited to two per person, probably for the best given a single cookie can pack up to 500 calories.

From Barron's • Jan. 20, 2026

The owners who pack up their teams and leave are forever villains in their old markets.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 12, 2026

“We haven’t had any clients close down and pack up to the U.S.,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 27, 2025

People making $1 million-plus a year move only half as often: Just 2.4% of them pack up each year.

From Salon • Dec. 5, 2025

“Hurry, beta,” my mom says as she and my dad rush out to pack up their lives in suitcases.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

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.