stuffing box

noun

, Machinery.

1. 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.

stuffing box

noun

1. a small chamber in which an annular packing is compressed around a reciprocating or rotating rod or shaft to form a seal Also calledpacking box

Word History and Origins

Origin of stuffing box¹

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

Several showed election officials stuffing boxes with ballot papers.

From BBC

But don’t sit in corner stuffing boxes of food for the homeless.

From Wall Street Journal

If it be quite horizontal the water of condensation will drip through the stuffing box; hence it is better that it stand 10 or 12 degrees from the horizontal.

From Project Gutenberg

A large gear pump is located in the lowest point of the oil sump, and being submerged at all times with oil, does away with troublesome stuffing boxes and check valves.

From Project Gutenberg

A vertically arranged hard-rubber pipe passes though a hard rubber stuffing box in the bottom of the tank and has one or more orifices near its upper end.

From Project Gutenberg