be packed (in) like sardines

To be very tightly or snugly packed together, especially in a small space. Alludes to the way in which sardines are packed closely together during canning. We didn't want to take more than one car, so we had to be packed like sardines in Jeff's little sedan for the four-hour drive to Moab. Having a concert in our friends café was such a good idea! Sure, we were packed in like sardines, but everyone had a great time. The airline doesn't care if we're packed in like sardines, so long as they get our ticket fare.

See also: like, packed, sardine

be squashed (in) like sardines

To be very tightly or snugly packed together, especially in a small space. Alludes to the way in which sardines are packed closely together during canning. We didn't want to take more than one car, so we had to be squashed like sardines in Jeff's little sedan for the four-hour drive to Moab. Having a concert in our friend's café was such a good idea! Sure, we were squashed in like sardines, but everyone had a great time. The airline doesn't care if we're squashed in like sardines, so long as they get our ticket fare.

like sardines

Very tightly or snugly packed together, especially in a small space. Alludes to the tightly packed manner of sardines in a can. We didn't want to take more than one car, so we had cram like sardines into Jeff's little sedan for the four-hour drive to Moab. Having a concert in our friends' café was such a good idea! Sure, we were squashed in like sardines, but everyone had a great time.

pack (someone or something) (in) like sardines

To fit many people or things very tightly or snugly into a small space. Alludes to the way in which sardines are packed closely together during canning. We didn't want to take more than one car, so Jeff packed us like sardines in his little sedan for the four-hour drive to Moab. Having a concert in our friends café was such a good idea! Sure, we had to pack people in like sardines, but everyone had a great time. I wish you would just let us buy you a bigger backpack! It makes my own back hurt watching you pack those books like sardines into your little shoulder bag.

packed (in) like sardines

Very tightly or snugly packed together, especially in a small space. Alludes to the way in which sardines are packed closely together during canning. We didn't want to take more than one car, so we had to drive for about four hours packed like sardines in Jeff's little sedan. Having a concert in our friends café was such a good idea! Sure, we were packed in like sardines, but everyone had a great time.

See also: like, packed, sardine

squash (someone or something) (in) like sardines

To fit many people or things very tightly or snugly into a small space. Alludes to the way in which sardines are packed closely together during canning. We didn't want to take more than one car, so Jeff squashed us like sardines in his little sedan for the four-hour drive to Moab. Having a concert in our friends café was such a good idea! Sure, we had to squash people in like sardines, but everyone had a great time. I wish you would just let us buy you a bigger backpack! It makes my own back hurt watching you squash those books like sardines into your little shoulder bag.

squashed (in) like sardines

Very tightly or snugly packed together, especially in a small space. Alludes to the way in which sardines are packed closely together during canning. We didn't want to take more than one car, so we had to drive for about four hours squashed like sardines in Jeff's little sedan. Having a concert in our friends café was such a good idea! Sure, we were squashed in like sardines, but everyone had a great time.

pack someone or something (in) like sardines

Fig. to squeeze in as many people or things as possible. (From the way that many sardines are packed into a can.) They packed us in like sardines. There was no room to breathe. They packed in the people like sardines. Dave got a box and packed old negatives in like sardines.

packed (in) like sardines

Fig. packed very tightly. It was terribly crowded there. We were packed in like sardines. The bus was full. The passengers were packed like sardines.

See also: like, packed, sardine

packed in like sardines

Extremely crowded, as in I could barely breathe-we were packed in like sardines. This term, alluding to how tightly sardines are packed in cans, has been applied to human crowding since the late 1800s.

See also: like, packed, sardine

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

packed like sardines

If a group of people are packed like sardines, they are standing very close together because there is not enough room in an enclosed space. We were packed like sardines in the ship and could barely move. Note: Other words such as crammed, jammed or squashed are sometimes used instead of packed. The male sauna was really packed. There were about five people squashed in there like sardines. Note: The image here is of tinned sardines which have been tightly packed.

See also: like, packed, sardine

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

packed like sardines

crowded very close together.

See also: like, packed, sardine

packed (together) like sarˈdines

(informal) (of people) pressed tightly together in a way that is uncomfortable or unpleasant: On the tube in the rush hour the passengers are packed like sardines.

Sardines are a type of fish that are usually sold packed tightly together in small tins.

See also: like, packed, sardine

packed in like sardines

Close together, crowded. Canned sardines are jammed together as tightly as practically any such object. The condition was transferred to human crowds by the late nineteenth century. Spike Milligan played with it in his poem “Sardines” (A Book of Milliganimals, 1968): “A baby Sardine saw her first submarine, She was scared and watched through a peephole, ‘O come, come, come, come,’ said the Sardine’s mum, ‘It’s only a tin full of people.’”

See also: like, packed, sardine

See also: