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parcel

Syllabification: (par·cel)
Pronunciation: /ˈpärsəl/

Translate parcel | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of parcel

noun

  • 1a thing or collection of things wrapped in paper in order to be carried or sent by mail.
  • 2a quantity or amount of something, especially as dealt with in one commercial transaction:a parcel of shares
  • a piece of land, especially one considered as part of an estate.
  • technical a portion of a larger body of air or other fluid considered as a discrete element.

verb (parcels, parceling, parceled ; British parcelling, parcelled)

[with object]
  • make (something) into a parcel by wrapping it:he parceled up his only winter suit to take to the pawnbroker
  • (parcel something out) divide into portions and then distribute:they will start parceling out radio frequencies for digital cordless telephones
  • Nautical wrap (rope) with strips of tarred canvas before binding it with yarn as part of a traditional technique to reduce chafing.

Phrases

be part and parcel of

see part.

pass the parcel

chiefly British a children’s game in which a parcel is passed around to the accompaniment of music, the child holding the parcel when the music stops being allowed to unwrap a layer.

Origin:

late Middle English (chiefly in the sense 'small portion'): from Old French parcelle, from Latin particula 'small part'

Spelling rule

Do not double the final consonant when adding endings that begin with a vowel to a word that ends in a vowel plus a consonant, if the stress is not at the end of the word (as in target): (parcels, parceling, parceled).

parcel in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of parcel in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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