- present participle of package.
noun
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the box or wrapping in which a product is offered for sale
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the design of such a box or wrapping, esp with reference to its ability to attract customers
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the presentation of a person, product, television programme, etc, to the public in a way designed to build up a favourable image
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the work of a packager
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of packaging
Explanation
Packaging is the material used to enclose, protect, and even promote things that are for sale. It’s all about presentation. If you’re having trouble selling lemonade out of an old pickle jar, perhaps you should change the packaging. Walk through a supermarket or a drug store and you'll see many different kinds of packaging, from hard plastic medicine bottles to cardboard cereal boxes and glass jars of spaghetti sauce. You can call the act or business of putting all these items into containers packaging too. There's also a figurative meaning of this noun, "presenting something in a flattering or beneficial way," as in: "The advisors' packaging of the candidate makes him seem much smarter."
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.
See Examples For:
The European Union sets mandates for 90%, 85%, 80%, 75%, 70%, 65%, 60%, 55% and 50%, covering everything from beverage containers and packaging materials to municipal rubbish.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Marcelo Peressim, 50, who owns a packaging company, came out to Flavio Bolsonaro's rally with a portrait of the candidate's father.
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
Deutsche Bank analyst Steve Powers on Monday said that some price increases were understandable, given higher costs for fuel, ingredients, packaging and shipping.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026
We’re all taking our private experiences and packaging them up for public consumption on Facebook and Instagram and Twitter and Reddit, and I think we gain something from that, or we wouldn’t do it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Neither Masten nor Rhea believes that clever packaging allows a company to put out a bad-tasting product.
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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Tried this out of the 3-liter box and it tastes similar in both packagings.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 21, 2019
Banned are plastic food packagings made with CFCs, certain types of building insulation and some solvents widely used for cleaning printed circuit boards in personal computers.
From Time Magazine Archive
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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.