pack rat
noun
1
: wood rat
especially : a bushy-tailed rodent (Neotoma cinerea) of western North America that has well-developed cheek pouches and that hoards food and miscellaneous objects
2
: a person who collects or hoards especially unneeded items
Example Sentences
I'm a terrible pack rat. I never throw anything away.
Recent Examples on the Web Agents were told that Trump was a pack rat who had been personally overseeing his collection of White House records since even before leaving Washington and had been reluctant to return anything. 
Anchorage Daily News, 24 Aug. 2022 Trump, a pack rat who for decades showed off knickknacks in his overstuffed Trump Tower office — including a giant shoe that once belonged to basketball player Shaquille O’Neal — treated the nation’s secrets as similar trinkets to brandish. Maggie Haberman, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Aug. 2022 As in Darger’s case, Maier, who died in 2009, was a pack rat and a recluse who never sought to publish her work in her lifetime. Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 31 July 2022 Scientists studying pack rat middens at the City of Rocks National Reserve have determined that the area’s iconic pinyon pine trees first arrived about 2,800 years ago and became prevalent about 700 years ago. From Usa Today Network And Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 10 Sep. 2021 So what happens when a pack rat ends up with a minimalist? Jura Koncius, Washington Post, 16 June 2021 Luckily for history’s sake, Glenn was something of a pack rat, saving everything from elementary school drawings to class papers to his post-Mercury notes about space travel — all of it housed at the John Glenn Archives at Ohio State. Washington Post, 28 May 2021 The Rat Pack connoisseur confesses to being a bit of a pack rat. Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2021 The vibe was more pack rat than Rat Pack, though the Saturn Bar drew celebrities out slumming for a night in New Orleans, and their snapshots were tacked to the wall. Ian Mcnulty, NOLA.com, 20 Nov. 2020 See More
Anchorage Daily News, 24 Aug. 2022 Trump, a pack rat who for decades showed off knickknacks in his overstuffed Trump Tower office — including a giant shoe that once belonged to basketball player Shaquille O’Neal — treated the nation’s secrets as similar trinkets to brandish. Maggie Haberman, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Aug. 2022 As in Darger’s case, Maier, who died in 2009, was a pack rat and a recluse who never sought to publish her work in her lifetime. Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 31 July 2022 Scientists studying pack rat middens at the City of Rocks National Reserve have determined that the area’s iconic pinyon pine trees first arrived about 2,800 years ago and became prevalent about 700 years ago. From Usa Today Network And Wire Reports, USA TODAY, 10 Sep. 2021 So what happens when a pack rat ends up with a minimalist? Jura Koncius, Washington Post, 16 June 2021 Luckily for history’s sake, Glenn was something of a pack rat, saving everything from elementary school drawings to class papers to his post-Mercury notes about space travel — all of it housed at the John Glenn Archives at Ohio State. Washington Post, 28 May 2021 The Rat Pack connoisseur confesses to being a bit of a pack rat. Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2021 The vibe was more pack rat than Rat Pack, though the Saturn Bar drew celebrities out slumming for a night in New Orleans, and their snapshots were tacked to the wall. Ian Mcnulty, NOLA.com, 20 Nov. 2020 See More Word History
First Known Use
1885, in the meaning defined at sense 1
pack rat
noun
as in saver
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- saver
- hoarder
- scrooge
- niggard
- piker
- miser
- skinflint
- cheapskate
- tightwad
- hunks
- penny-pincher
- churl
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- spendthrift
- prodigal
- waster
- wastrel
- spender
- squanderer
- profligate