stuffing box

noun Machinery.

a device for preventing leakage of gases or liquids along a moving rod or shaft at the point at which it leaves a cylinder, tank, ship hull, etc.

Nearby words

stuffed derma, stuffed shirt, stuffer, stuffing, stuffing and stripping, stuffing box, stuffing nut, stuffy, stuiver, stuka, stukkend

Origin of stuffing box

First recorded in 1790–1800

Also called gland.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stuffing box

When the stuffing-box has been filled, place the gland in position and screw up tight.
Farm Engines and How to Run Them|James H. Stephenson
The stuffing-box is screwed externally, and carries a nut A B which moves the gland.
An Introduction to Machine Drawing and Design|David Allan Low
Never pack the stuffing-box too tight, or you may flute the rod and spoil it.
Farm Engines and How to Run Them|James H. Stephenson
If there is water, stoppage may be due to air in the pump chamber, which can get in only through the stuffing-box.
Farm Engines and How to Run Them|James H. Stephenson

In the cover of the cylinder attached to the tube-plate is a stuffing-box, in which the piston rod plays.
The Steam Engine Explained and Illustrated (Seventh Edition)|Dionysius Lardner

British Dictionary definitions for stuffing box

stuffing box

noun

a small chamber in which an annular packing is compressed around a reciprocating or rotating rod or shaft to form a sealAlso called: packing box

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