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
-
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:
“The gated, private parcel offers dramatic panoramic city views and sweeping vistas, with multiple usable tiers featuring generous flat pads, terraced gardens, and a dedicated pool level,” the description noted.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026
A local menswear store replaced its part-time carriers with American Messenger when Casey offered a monthly rate capped at 17.5 cents a parcel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
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
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
Vlasenko was more exposed when he ran to fetch supply parcels.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Since the EU imposed the three-euro duty on small parcels in July, imports have fallen by around 64 percent -- although officials warn it is too early to draw firm conclusions.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
Unlike freeways, they may have driveways to specific parcels and at-grade intersections.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
However, Bass later rolled back the directive in some areas, including single-family parcels, historic districts and very high fire severity zones.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
“How d’you make them parcels so neat, Sister Benedicta?” he said one day.
From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman
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
A bare-bones framework of an agreement, sketched out on a single sheet of paper, the deal promises $125 million for a journalism fund that will be parceled out to local newsrooms over five years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 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
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
California became an agricultural powerhouse by taming its rivers and parceling out their flows.
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2024
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
"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
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
Indeed, American cultural history could probably be parcelled out as a sequence of sensational murder cases.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 8, 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
There is no energy generated by the machinery: the work performed by the water in descending is merely the parcelling out and distribution of the work expended in raising it.
From Fragments of science, V. 1-2 by John Tyndall
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