English

Noun

dunnage ‎(usually uncountable, plural dunnages)

1. (chiefly transport) Scrap material, often wood, used to fill spaces to prevent the shifting of more valuable items during transport, or underneath large or heavy items to raise them slightly above the ground, in order to protect from chafing and wet.
   • 1833, “Directions For Making A Rope-rudder, as proposed by Mr. Thomas Unwin, Boatswain in the Royal Navy”, in The Nautical magazine: a journal of papers on subjects connected with maritime affairs, volume 3:

     When you have got your junks wormed and laid up, take each two pieces, and stop them together; double the middle pieces, and stop them also, and clap a good stop on, to form the eye: then bring them all together upon some dunnage, to keep them up from the deck, to enable you to pass your round-about lashings:

   • 2003, Chee Kai Chua; Kah Fai Leong, Chu Sing Lim, Rapid prototyping: principles and applications, page 133:

     consortium of companies dedicated to finding a faster and less expensive way to produce dunnages. Dunnages are material handling parts used to hold bumpers and fenders in place when they are shipped or used in Ford's production

   • 2005 August, “Eyes on the Line”, in Mechanical Engineering:

     The robot cameras and software direct the robots to unload the 40-pound parts from pallets (called "dunnage") and place them on brackets fixed to a conveyor.

2. Personal effects; baggage.

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