a rugged box (usually made of wood); used for shipping
"The worker carefully loaded the fragile glassware into a sturdy wooden crate before sealing it for shipment."
A large open box or basket, used especially to transport fragile goods.
"The movers carefully packed the antique vases into a sturdy wooden crate before loading them onto the truck."
In plain English: A crate is a sturdy box made of wood, metal, or plastic that you can stack and use to carry things.
"We stacked two wooden crates on top of each other to reach the items in the back shelf."
Usage: Do not confuse this noun with the verb meaning to create something; they are homographs but unrelated in origin and usage. In modern contexts, "crate" as a container is often replaced by more specific terms like "box" or "bin" depending on the material and purpose.
To put into a crate.
"The movers carefully packed all the glassware and put it into a sturdy wooden crate to protect it during transport."
The word "crate" comes from the Dutch krat, originally meaning a large box or basket made of woven materials like wicker. It traveled into Middle and Modern English to describe these sturdy containers for holding goods, retaining its core sense of something constructed by binding or twisting together.