Gift wrapping refers to the act of enclosing a gift in some sort of material. Wrapping paper is a kind of paper designed for gift wrapping. Gifts may also be wrapped in a box. They may be held closed with ribbon and topped with a decorative bow (an ornamental knot made of ribbon).

In Western culture, gifts are often wrapped in wrapping paper and accompanied by a gift note which may note the occasion, the receiver's name and the giver's name. In the United States, an additional 5 million tons of waste are generated over the Christmas gift-giving period; four million tons of this is wrapping paper and shopping bags. Some people attempt to avoid this by unwrapping gifts with care to hopefully allow the paper to be reused, while others use decorated cloth gift sacks that can be easily reused many times; both of these concepts are part of the Green Gifting trend that encourages recycling.

In Chinese culture, red wrapping connotes luck.

In Japanese culture, wrapping paper and boxes are common. However, the traditional cloth wrapping called furoshiki is increasing in popularity, particularly as an ecologically friendly alternative to wrapping paper.

In Korean culture, bojagi are sometimes used for gift wrapping. A yedanbo is a ceremonial gift bojagi used to wrap wedding gifts from the bride's family to the members of the groom's.

Verb

wrap (third-person singular simple present wraps, present participle wrapping, simple past and past participle wrapped or (archaic) wrapt)

1. (transitive) To enclose (an object) completely in any flexible, thin material such as fabric or paper.
2. (transitive) To enclose or coil around an object or organism, as a form of grasping. A prerequisite to constriction in snakes.
3. (transitive or intransitive, video production) To finish shooting (filming) a video, television show, or movie.

   To avoid going over budget, let's make sure we wrap by ten.

• For examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.

• Business: Consumer Goods and Services: Gifts and Occasions: Gift Wrap (20)

• Studio Style by Collector's Gallery
  studiostyle.com
  Packaging for birthdays, weddings, holidays. Also, photo greeting card materials for the holidays and special occasions.
• Indiana Ribbon
  giftwrapgifts.com
  Specializing in an assortment of wrapping paper, bows, ribbon and tags for a variety of occasions.
• Uwrap
  uwrap.com
  Offering jumbo rolls of foil and holographic wrapping paper.