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
-
(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:
Aymann: I think it’s part and parcel of the Muslim American experience.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2026
Padilla said postal inspectors intercepted a suspicious parcel addressed to his office, according to reports.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
"It's the same, you know, the precious parcel on the trolley is the same as the precious parcel in the car. You have to get all of those steps right."
From BBC ● Oct. 15, 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
He kept staring; a man came out of the shop with a small parcel, and gave it to the lady, who then drove off.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
Unlike freeways, they may have driveways to specific parcels and at-grade intersections.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
But cities and towns can shrink that figure: In Houston, for instance, real-estate developers can build on parcels as small as 1,400 square feet.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
Residents will retain their post office box numbers and continue picking up parcels downtown.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
James Frakes of Los Angeles downloaded Muse to field incoming Facebook Marketplace inquiries on vacant parcels of land he sells.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 4, 2026
The troops will be pleased to know that Velma T. has sent off more relief parcels with her newly concocted elixir.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
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 scan the little slots until I find mine: a refill of Greek oregano, parceled out in a plastic baggie with a heat-sealed strip.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 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
None of the historical residents of Epiphany liked the idea of having the Sillington place parceled off for a subdivision.
From "The View From Saturday" by E.L. Konigsburg
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
"I'm thinking of parceling off portions of my brain," I once told her.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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
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
At the house, Alvarado filled Cox’s container from a five-gallon blue plastic water jug—ten litres for a hundred dollars, to be parcelled out in bottles that he would sell for three hundred apiece.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 4, 2016
“When a beloved parent dies, what is being parcelled out may look like goods and chattels, but it feels a lot like love,” she wrote.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 12, 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
His abode had been saved from the parcelling out of several Georgian estates.
From The Card, a Story of Adventure in the Five Towns by Arnold Bennett
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