parcel
Americannoun
-
parcels
plural
-
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
-
a quantity of some commodity offered for sale; lot
-
a distinct portion of land
-
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:
Citi analyst Ariel Rosa sees value in parcel shipping stocks heading into the holiday shopping season.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
“We have powerful customs clearance agencies in these countries, and our customs clearance company will clear your parcel without any customs issues,” the company says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
The main residential parcel encompasses approximately 4.2 acres, offering sweeping water views and plenty of privacy.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
There have also been questions about Amazon parcel logistics, requests to borrow cereal bowls and what tog duvet other people's children were given.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
The last wrapping fell to the floor and the thing that was in the parcel lay in Jane’s hand.
From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers
But posties speaking to us anonymously say parcels are still being prioritised, letters left behind, and time wasted in sorting and dividing mail into first and second class.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
Residents will retain their post office box numbers and continue picking up parcels downtown.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
The acquisition included four parcels totaling roughly seven acres and two residences, with the centerpiece being an enormous nine-bedroom waterfront mansion.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026
According to the Trussell Trust, 67,851 parcels were distributed in Northern Ireland, 26,459 of those given to children in 2025.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
As soon as she was out of sight of the bookshop window, she rested her parcels on the sidewalk and opened the dictionary.
From "Lyddie" by Katherine Paterson
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
He was a prolific writer and he parceled out songs to people that he cared about or was working with.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2025
Situated on the sunny second floor, it was one of four flats parceled out in the 1950s from a 14th-century Tuscan estate, Villa di Marignolle, that once belonged to the Medicis.
From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2024
No longer were the university’s resources, parceled out at a few hundred dollars at a time, sufficient for his purposes.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
In the run-up to “One Battle After Another,” DiCaprio played the traditional role of the elusive movie star, parceling out access and promotional appearances.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 12, 2026
The insurance department, in turn, has encouraged companies to ask for all the rate increases they need at once, rather than parceling out requests over time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2023
Inside the Weggs’ yellow colonial, on five acres north of Indianapolis, Rodney had been parceling out limited information.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 21, 2021
Narrative agency is what interests the author, her manner of parceling out information evoking at times the fragmentary and diaristic sensibilities of Jenny Offill’s “Dept. of Speculation.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2020
Or was it just more of the same parceling out of fortunes that had brought us this far, to this place where our path would finally divide into two?
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
Golden rice fields stretch across the Vercelli plain between Milan and Turin, a parcelled landscape broken only by the wood and wetlands created by Cerutti, now home to rare birds and insects.
From Barron's ● Oct. 12, 2026
Camelot, which has run the lottery since it was launched in 1994, has nothing to do with the way the money is parcelled out.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2021
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
His downfall is parcelled out carefully along the way, and each new attempt to escape his fate brings about new and awful consequences.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 20, 2019
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
Death’s name is much more mighty than his deeds: Thy parcelling this power hath made it more.
From A Study of Shakespeare by Edmund Gosse
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