parcel
Americannoun
-
an object, article, container, or quantity of something wrapped or packed up; small package; bundle.
-
a quantity or unit of something, as of a commodity for sale; lot.
-
a group, collection, or assemblage of persons or things.
- Synonyms:
- assortment, batch
-
a distinct, continuous portion or tract of land.
-
a part, portion, or fragment.
verb (used with object)
adverb
noun
-
something wrapped up; package
-
a group of people or things having some common characteristic
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a quantity of some commodity offered for sale; lot
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a distinct portion of land
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an essential part of something (esp in the phrase part and parcel )
verb
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(often foll by up) to make a parcel of; wrap up
-
(often foll by out) to divide (up) into portions
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nautical to bind strips of canvas around (a rope)
adverb
Synonym Usage
See package.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of parcel
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English, from Middle French parcelle, from unattested Late Latin particella, fresh formation for Latin particula; see particle, passel
Explanation
A parcel is a part of something, or a division. It can also be a package or a collection of things wrapped together. Parcel comes from the Anglo-Norman word for "part." Often when we use parcel to mean a part, we're talking about land, which is divided into definable (and purchasable) tracts. As a verb, parcel means to divide something into parts, just as after trick-or-treating you might parcel your candy stash into piles of chocolates, peppermints, or toffees. If you're selling the family farm, you might parcel it into four small plots.
Vocabulary lists containing parcel
"The Great Gatsby," Chapter 1 Vocabulary
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Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
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Revolution in Our Time
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Outside, the parcel is lined with dozens of palm trees to ensure complete privacy, while a dramatic gated courtyard provides an idyllic place to relax away from prying eyes.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
“Extreme heat is part and parcel of our lives these days, and we must adapt to it,” Langer said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
“That’s part and parcel of the job,” Connor says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
China’s higher parcel volume also seems resilient, given the company’s full-year guidance of 10% growth and muted sector growth, they add.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
Our house was separated from the river by a crescent-shaped parcel of five acres of wild, uncleared growth.
From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly
The concept would probably face opposition from Altadenans who have rallied by the hundreds to oppose building permits for multiple homes on individual parcels.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
She runs an organisation supporting other women who have been detained, and, using a secret network, helps send parcels from families to those still in captivity.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
The EU also plans a handling fee to start in November 2026 to help customs authorities with their surging costs as more and more parcels arrive.
From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026
This market-driven renewal filled vacant lots and derelict sites, reduced blight, converted nonperforming parcels into taxpaying assets and created billions of dollars in new wealth for existing homeowners, with little evidence of widespread displacement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
“Oh, dear!” said Michael to himself, as he followed her, staggering under the weight of his parcels.
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
The acres parceled out for Stratos all lie on private, unzoned property, and the landowners there had already granted their blessing.
From Slate ● Jun. 1, 2026
Certain credits are parceled out quarterly or even monthly, and premium cards can have the feel of a coupon book.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
I could keep the condition in check by feeding him small meals six to eight times a day, a tablespoon of the prescription dry food parceled out one pea-sized piece at a time.
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2024
Convention delegates were basically parceled out in proportion to a candidate’s vote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 4, 2024
She kept 48 hives strewn through the woods around the pink house, and another 280 were parceled out on various farms, in river yards and upland swamps.
From "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd
People are living longer, spending more on themselves and parceling out their riches in smaller doses to children and grandchildren.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
California became an agricultural powerhouse by taming its rivers and parceling out their flows.
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2024
Inside the Weggs’ yellow colonial, on five acres north of Indianapolis, Rodney had been parceling out limited information.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 21, 2021
A parliamentary investigative committee questioned Akoub about that deal, as well as real-estate repossession and the parceling off of state land.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2019
"I'm thinking of parceling off portions of my brain," I once told her.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
Just open up a page and experience the meditative calm of reading alphabetized lists that are parcelled into neat little sections.
From Slate ● Feb. 14, 2020
"It has all been a retro-rush. Weekly episodes parcelled out like old times. Cliffhangers you talked about next day by the new watercooler, Twitter."
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2018
Individual land ownership is often ineffectual for forests and rangelands, which lose their value when parcelled up.
From Economist ● Jul. 14, 2016
Meanwhile, residents such as Majoor and Felicia are watching an area they love being parcelled up and sold off, along with its sense of community.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 15, 2016
That first captain walled their promontory, built their homes and shrines, and parcelled out the black land for the plow.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Congo-Brazzaville's government has already begun parcelling out blocks of land and looking for potential investors, although there is some uncertainty about the extent and significance of the oil reserves.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2022
Given all this filtering and parcelling out, it’s not surprising that memory is imperfect.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 12, 2014
And once you begin parcelling out roles rather than wrapping them together in a single nightmare bundle, it gets rather easier to find George Entwistle's successor.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 18, 2012
Popular in Czechoslovakia is the Government's policy of seizing the broad acres of great nobles and parcelling them out among the poor.
From Time Magazine Archive
The bank that had sent them had departed from all precedent in parcelling out the gold amongst the messengers.
From The Lost Valley by Walsh, James Morgan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
