A lid, also known as a cap, is part of a container

Packaging and labelling

Packaging is the science, art, and technology of enclosing or protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of design, evaluation, and production of packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport,...

, and serves as the cover or seal

Seal (mechanical)

A mechanical seal is a device which helps join systems or mechanisms together by preventing leakage , containing pressure, or excluding contamination...

, usually one that completely closes the object.

History

Lids have been found on pottery

Pottery

Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

 dating back as far as 3100 BC. Ancient Egyptian canopic jars with lids held the organs of mummified bodies as early as 2686 BC. The coffee lid market is valued at roughly $180 million. An estimated 14 billion lids were sold in 2009 in the United States.

Some containers such as tubs or jars now have a plastic film heat sealed onto the container: this is often called a lidding film.

Cultural references

The word is used metaphorically, as in "keeping the lid on the secret" and "flipped his lid".

An old saying that you never have to put a lid on a bucket of crabs (because when one gets near the top, another will inevitably pull it down) is often used as a metaphor for group situations where an individual feels held back by others.

A well-known myth concerns Pandora

Pandora

In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. As Hesiod related it, each god helped create her by giving her unique gifts...

 opening the lid of a box and unleashing terrible evils into the world.

Lids are referred to in the Bible, in the Book of Numbers

Book of Numbers

The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....

.

Comedians Fry and Laurie

Fry and Laurie

Fry and Laurie, Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, were a successful English comedy double act, mostly active in the 1980s and 1990s. Having met in 1980 through mutual friend Emma Thompson , Fry and Laurie have since collaborated on numerous projects together, including Jeeves and Wooster, in which...

 performed a song called "Where is the Lid?".

The rock band Nazareth

Nazareth (band)

Nazareth is a Scottish hard rock band, founded in 1968, that had several hits in the UK in the early 1970s, and established an international audience with their 1975 album Hair of the Dog. Perhaps their best-known hit single was a cover of the ballad "Love Hurts", in 1975...

performed a song called 'Lift the Lid'.

Books, general references

• Soroka, W, "Fundamentals of Packaging Technology", IoPP, 2002, ISBN 1-930268-25-4
• Yam, K. L., "Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", John Wiley & Sons, 2009, ISBN 978-0-470-08704-6