different between packrat vs packrattery

English

Wikispecies

Alternative forms

• pack rat, pack-rat

Etymology

pack +? rat

Pronunciation

Noun

packrat (plural packrats)

1. Any of several species of rodent in the genus Neotoma, most commonly the bushy-tailed woodrat (Neotoma cinerea), that gather vegetation and other materials into shelters (middens).
2. One who tends to acquire various objects; one who collects, accumulates or has trouble throwing things away; a hoarder.

Translations

Verb

packrat (third-person singular simple present packrats, present participle packratting, simple past and past participle packratted)

1. (colloquial, transitive, intransitive) To hoard things.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:amass

Anagrams

• Rat Pack, rat pack

English

Etymology

• packrat +? -ery

Noun

packrattery (uncountable)

1. The behavior of a packrat; a tendency to collect miscellanea or bric-a-brac, often to excess.

References

• 1977: Joseph Chamberlain Furnas, Stormy Weather: Crosslights on the Nineteen Thirties: An Informal Social History of the United States 1929–1941

  But packrattery soon precluded any Williamsburgish consistency.

• 1999: Ina Dillard Russell, Roots and Ever Green: The Selected Letters of Ina Dillard Russell

  Many stories were tape-recorded at family reunions through the years (we also are record keepers, given a little leeway for chaos and packrattery).

• 2006: Don Aslett, Weekend Makeover: Take Your Home from Messy to Magnificent in Only 48 Hours!

  Remember the first principle of packrattery: Stuff will accumulate proportionate to the space and place made available for it.