pellet

American  

[pel-it] / ˈpɛl ɪt /

noun

1. a small, rounded or spherical body, as of food or medicine.

2. a small wad or ball of wax, paper, etc., for throwing, shooting, or the like.

3. one of a charge of small shot, as for a shotgun.

4. a bullet.

5. a ball, usually of stone, formerly used as a missile.

6. Also called cast.  Ornithology. a small, roundish mass of matter regurgitated by certain predatory birds, consisting of the indigestible remains, as the fur, feathers, and bones, of the prey.

7. (in Romanesque architecture) a hemispherical or disklike carved ornament.

8. Heraldry. ogress.

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verb (used with object)

1. to form into pellets; pelletize.

2. to hit with pellets.

pellet British  

/ ˈpɛlɪt /

noun

1. a small round ball, esp of compressed matter

   a wax pellet

2. 1. an imitation bullet used in toy guns

   2. a piece of small shot

3. a stone ball formerly used as a catapult or cannon missile

4. Also called: cast.   casting.  ornithol a mass of undigested food, including bones, fur, feathers, etc, that is regurgitated by certain birds, esp birds of prey

5. a small pill

6. a raised area on coins and carved or moulded ornaments

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verb

1. to strike with pellets

2. to make or form into pellets

Other Word Forms

• pelletlike
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pellet

1325–75; Middle English pelet < Middle French pelote < Vulgar Latin *pilotta, diminutive of Latin pila ball. See pill ¹, -et

Explanation

A pellet is a small, rounded piece of something, especially a compressed nugget of some material. Many pets eat food that comes in pellets, including some fish, rabbits, and guinea pigs. You might feed your pet rat pellets each day, or heat your house by burning pellets made of compressed sawdust in a special kind of stove. When it hails or sleets, tiny pellets of ice fall from the sky, and your cousin's BB gun works by shooting tiny metal pellets from its barrel. Pellet is from the Old French pelote, "small ball," which has the Latin pelote, or "ball," as its root.

Example Sentences

"We now can establish that a pellet that came from the buckshot from the defendant's Mossberg pump-action shotgun was intertwined with the fiber of the vest of the Secret Service officer," Pirro said.

From Barron's • May 3, 2026

One woman was detained after she was shot with a pellet gun and went to a hospital in Tehran for treatment, a close friend said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026

The pieces appear to be part of a round plastic pellet that was filled with a pinkish powder.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2026

The resulting plastic pellet could then be removed every few dozen washes and thrown away with general waste.

From Science Daily • Dec. 22, 2025

They cannot eat again until the pellet is cast.

From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George

Related Words

• bullet
• pill