dunnage
Americannoun
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baggage or personal effects.
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loose material laid beneath or wedged among objects carried by ship or rail to prevent injury from chafing or moisture, or to provide ventilation.
verb (used with object)
noun
Etymology
Origin of dunnage
1615–25; earlier dynnage; compare Anglo-Latin dennagium dunnage; of obscure origin
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.
Passengers groped about their staterooms in search of fur coats; the cooks burned hatch covers and dunnage in their stoves.
From Time Magazine Archive
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But anybody who can tell a top carling from a garboard strake will want a copy of Spring Tides in his dunnage the next time he does a windward dozen.
From Time Magazine Archive
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He brought two dunnage bags and a whacking accent with him.
From The Ice Pilot by Leverage, Henry
Every man was allowed to take his dunnage, and the prisoners on board the Southampton were given the run of the forward and main holds, although the hatchways were closely guarded by armed sentinels.
From Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors: Tales of 1812 by Barnes, James
Over it were two brass racks for luggage and dunnage, and on the opposite wall a washbowl and towel rack could be folded into a seat.
From The Ice Pilot by Leverage, Henry
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.