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
-
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
-
(often foll by up) to make a parcel of; wrap up
-
(often foll by out) to divide (up) into portions
-
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:
Friends of Big Bear Valley, a nonprofit that operates the nest livestream, has long argued that the roughly 63-acre parcel is a critical hunting ground for the local eagles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
With all the donations, the San Bernardino Mountains Land Trust can purchase the parcel, as well as cover closing costs, taxes, legal fees and some maintenance of the land.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
The Hong Kong-listed logistics operator reported a 24% rise in total parcel volume, with a 63% gain in Southeast Asia and an 11% increase in China, the analysts say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
"It's such a large parcel of land in our National Park and it's come up for sale at this time so there's a little bit of urgency to get the ball rolling," he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
There was a panama hat on the bed and a paper parcel, so it seemed that the mute had just come in.
From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers
"There is just so much of it," he said, gesturing toward piles of food parcels at the protest site in the Indian capital.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 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
To check whether specific parcels are included in the ordinance, follow this link and check the box that says “Opportunity Station Sites Eligible for Low Rise.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
In this case, the proposed BID encompasses more than 160 parcels that are owned by more than 70 property owners within the “flats” area adjacent to a series of railroad tracks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026
The woman stepped back with her parcels, a hand to her fur collar, and Zbyszek took her place at the counter.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
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
General Ryder said that 569 metric tons of aid had made it onto Gaza’s shore but that those supplies had yet to be parceled out by humanitarian organizations.
From New York Times ● May 21, 2024
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
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
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
Front-line nurses, already parceling out a few minutes an hour to each patient under their care, say juggling unfamiliar products or adjusting to workarounds makes their jobs even more fraught.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 29, 2022
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
The Irvine Co. had wound down its cattle operations and was parceling out its 185 square miles of land.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2018
A dark night was falling, one of a different order from the soft, large, kind ones of childhood under the anacahuita tree, Pap£ parceling out futures and Mama fussing at his drinking.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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
Next off the conveyer belt to be parcelled up and booted out is Stuttgart.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 7, 2015
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
Often a rope is served without parcelling and for ordinary purposes parcelling is not required.
From Knots, Splices and Rope Work A Practical Treatise by Verrill, A. Hyatt (Alpheus Hyatt)
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.
