Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Loose packing material used to protect a ship's cargo from damage during transport.
- noun Personal baggage.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To stow with fagots or loose wood, as the bottom of a ship's hold; wedge or chock, as cargo. See
dunnage , n. - noun Fagots, boughs, or loose wood laid in the hold of a ship to raise heavy goods above the bottom and prevent injury from water; also, loose articles of lading wedged between parts of the cargo to hold them steady and prevent injury from friction or collision.
- noun Baggage.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Naut.) Fagots, boughs, or loose materials of any kind, laid on the bottom of the hold for the cargo to rest upon to prevent injury by water, or stowed among casks and other cargo to prevent their motion.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Scrap
material , often wood, used to fill spaces to prevent items fromshifting duringtransport , or underneath large or heavy items to raise them slightly above the ground. - noun Personal effects;
baggage .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Reusable industrial packaging, known as dunnage, is frequently made from EPP due to its durability and its inherent ability to absorb energy in transit.
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From the article:Braintech solutions will guide robots manufactured by ABB Inc.'s Robotic, Automotive and Manufacturing Group to locate heavy transmission castings on pallets called "dunnage", move the castings to a work area, and then pick up the empty dunnage and place it on a conveyor.
Archive 2004-03-01 2004
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Braintech solutions will guide robots manufactured by ABB Inc.'s Robotic, Automotive and Manufacturing Group to locate heavy transmission castings on pallets called "dunnage", move the castings to a work area, and then pick up the empty dunnage and place it on a conveyor.
3D vision systems 2004
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From the article:Braintech solutions will guide robots manufactured by ABB Inc.'s Robotic, Automotive and Manufacturing Group to locate heavy transmission castings on pallets called "dunnage", move the castings to a work area, and then pick up the empty dunnage and place it on a conveyor.
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The flat boat was quickly poled out to her, and what Swiftwater called their "dunnage" was placed aboard.
The Boy Scouts on the Yukon Ralph Victor
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A light hurricane deck was above all, on which the passengers could promenade up and down to their hearts 'content, having comfortable cane-bottomed seats along the sides to sit down upon when tired and no gear, or rope coils, or other nautical "dunnage," to interrupt their free locomotion on this king of quarter-decks, which had, besides, an awning on top to tone down the potency of the western sun.
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I had my "dunnage" sent aboard and then stopped at the office and signed on.
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After my smoke was finished and I had rested, I carried my "dunnage" around to the point where I intended to begin my fishing, put the lunch basket in a shady place beneath the bushes, and the bait pail in the water nearby, changed my shoes for the fishing boots, rigged my rod and was ready.
The Rise of Roscoe Paine Joseph Crosby Lincoln 1907
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The _Shark's_ boat came alongside just then, and the men passed down their "dunnage" into her amid a brisk fire of good-humoured chaff from their shipmates, and such enquiries as: "Hello, Jim, haven't you got so much as a monkey or a parrot to cheer us up with?" and so on.
A Middy in Command A Tale of the Slave Squadron Harry Collingwood 1886
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Stowing away his "dunnage," therefore, in the after deck - house, and flinging his bedding into the berth which he selected for his own occupation, he quickly rejoined the mate, who furnished him with book and pencil, and stationed him at the after hatchway to take account of everything which passed down that receptacle.
The Missing Merchantman Harry Collingwood 1886
chained_bear commented on the word dunnage
"'Mr Pullings, a bosun's chair, if you please, a whip for the dunnage, and pass the word for the children.'"
--Patrick O'Brian, The Ionian Mission, 24-25
February 11, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word dunnage
"... a quantity of fagots (sic), boughs of trees, or other loose wood, laid in the bottom of a ship, either to raise the heavy goods which might make her too stiff, or to keep the cargo sufficiently above the bottom, that it may sustain no damage from the water, if the ship is leaky."
—Falconer's New Universal Dictionary of the Marine (1816), 128
A Sea of Words: ... also, a sailor's personal baggage. (182)
October 14, 2008
knitandpurl commented on the word dunnage
"But I shall sleep aboard, of course; so pray be good enough to send a boat for my chest and dunnage."
Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brian, p 32 of the Norton paperback edition
July 5, 2019