packed like sardines
No room whatsoever
Packed like sardines describes people or things crowded together in an extremely tight space, with little room to move.
The image comes from how sardines are preserved—small fish layered densely in tins: The subway car was packed like sardines during rush hour.
The phrase emphasizes uncomfortable proximity and lack of personal space.
- crammedOverfilled or overstuffed
- crowdedFilled beyond comfort
- overflowingExceeding capacity, spilling out
- squeezeFirm bilateral compression
- claustrophobicFearing confined spaces
chock-full · press · wedged · jam · shoulder to shoulder · stuffed · hemmed in · can't move · personal space · elbow to elbow · wall-to-wall · confined · squished · loaded · bursting at the seams · crush · rush hour · bodies
- crowdedcrowded, crammed, jammed, teeming, mobbed
- fishing idiomshook line and sinker, fish out of water, the one that got away, fishing for compliments, fish or cut bait