PARCEL (parcelled, parcelling)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: parcelled    , parcelling   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does parcel mean? 

• PARCEL (noun)
  The noun PARCEL has 4 senses:

1. a wrapped container

2. the allotment of some amount by dividing something

3. an extended area of land

4. a collection of things wrapped or boxed together

  Familiarity information: PARCEL used as a noun is uncommon.

• PARCEL (verb)
  The verb PARCEL has 3 senses:

1. divide into parts

2. cover with strips of canvas

3. make into a wrapped container

  Familiarity information: PARCEL used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PARCEL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A wrapped container

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

package; parcel

Hypernyms ("parcel" is a kind of...):

container (any object that can be used to hold things (especially a large metal boxlike object of standardized dimensions that can be loaded from one form of transport to another))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "parcel"):

pack (a convenient package or parcel (as of cigarettes or film))

packet (a small package or bundle)

bundle; sheaf (a package of several things tied together for carrying or storing)

Derivation:

parcel (make into a wrapped container)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The allotment of some amount by dividing something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

parcel; portion; share

Context example:

death gets more than its share of attention from theologians

Hypernyms ("parcel" is a kind of...):

allocation; allotment; apportioning; apportionment; assignation; parceling; parcelling (the act of distributing by allotting or apportioning; distribution according to a plan)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An extended area of land

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

parcel; parcel of land; piece of ground; piece of land; tract

Hypernyms ("parcel" is a kind of...):

geographic area; geographic region; geographical area; geographical region (a demarcated area of the Earth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "parcel"):

parade ground (an area for holding parades)

yard (a tract of land where logs are accumulated)

fairground (an open area for holding fairs or exhibitions or circuses)

midway (the place at a fair or carnival where sideshows and similar amusements are located)

fairway (a tract of ground free of obstacles to movement)

park; parkland (a large area of land preserved in its natural state as public property)

common; commons; green; park (a piece of open land for recreational use in an urban area)

picnic area; picnic ground (a tract of land set aside for picnicking)

public square; square (an open area at the meeting of two or more streets)

toll plaza (an area where tollbooths are located)

range (a large tract of grassy open land on which livestock can graze)

sector (a portion of a military position)

land site; site (the piece of land on which something is located (or is to be located))

subdivision (an area composed of subdivided lots)

mine field (a tract of land containing explosive mines)

terrain (a piece of ground having specific characteristics or military potential)

patch; plot; plot of ground; plot of land (a small area of ground covered by specific vegetation)

lot (a parcel of land having fixed boundaries)

yard (a tract of land enclosed for particular activities (sometimes paved and usually associated with buildings))

battlefield; battleground; field; field of battle; field of honor (a region where a battle is being (or has been) fought)

baseball diamond; diamond; infield (the area of a baseball field that is enclosed by 3 bases and home plate)

center; center field; centerfield (the piece of ground in the outfield directly ahead of the catcher)

left; left field; leftfield (the piece of ground in the outfield on the catcher's left)

outfield (the area of a baseball playing field beyond the lines connecting the bases)

right; right field; rightfield (the piece of ground in the outfield on the catcher's right)

short (the location on a baseball field where the shortstop is stationed)

railway yard; railyard; yard (an area having a network of railway tracks and sidings for storage and maintenance of cars and engines)

desert (arid land with little or no vegetation)

oasis (a fertile tract in a desert (where the water table approaches the surface))

mud flat (a tract of low muddy land near an estuary; covered at high tide and exposed at low tide)

minefield (a region in which explosives mines have been placed)

breeding ground (a place where animals breed)

clearing; glade (a tract of land with few or no trees in the middle of a wooded area)

field (a piece of land cleared of trees and usually enclosed)

field of fire (the area that a weapon or group of weapons can cover effectively with gun fire from a given position)

grounds (a tract of land cleared for some special purposes (recreation or burial etc.))

athletic field; field; playing area; playing field (a piece of land prepared for playing a game)

industrial park (a tract of land at a distance from city center that is designed for a cluster of businesses and factories)

grassland (land where grass or grasslike vegetation grows and is the dominant form of plant life)

Derivation:

parcel (divide into parts)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A collection of things wrapped or boxed together

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

bundle; package; packet; parcel

Hypernyms ("parcel" is a kind of...):

accumulation; aggregation; assemblage; collection (several things grouped together or considered as a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "parcel"):

wisp (a small bundle of straw or hay)

Derivation:

parcel (make into a wrapped container)

• PARCEL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they parcel    ... he / she / it parcels   
Past simple: parceled    / parcelled   
Past participle: parceled    / parcelled   
-ing form: parceling    / parcelling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Divide into parts

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

The developers parceled the land

Hypernyms (to "parcel" is one way to...):

carve up; dissever; divide; separate; split; split up (separate into parts or portions)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

parcel (an extended area of land)

parceling (the act of distributing by allotting or apportioning; distribution according to a plan)

parcellation (the division into parcels)

parcelling (the act of distributing by allotting or apportioning; distribution according to a plan)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cover with strips of canvas

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

parcel rope

Hypernyms (to "parcel" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make into a wrapped container

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "parcel" is one way to...):

wrap; wrap up (arrange or fold as a cover or protection)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

parcel (a wrapped container)

parcel (a collection of things wrapped or boxed together)

parcellation (the division into parcels)

 Context examples 

The law was being lived about him by all live things, and he himself was part and parcel of the law.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

At length the chaise arrived, the trunks were fastened on, the parcels placed within, and it was pronounced to be ready.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He knew it was impossible that there could be a country beyond the sea, or that a parcel of brutes could move a wooden vessel whither they pleased upon water.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

And as she spoke she was undoing a small parcel, which Fanny had observed in her hand when they met.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I think well of him, and like to show that I do, for he is a gentleman in spite of the brown paper parcels.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

No, I cannot stay; I have only brought you a little parcel my sisters left for you.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The time is come, I fear, when I must open that parcel, and know what is written.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Mr. Peggotty, with a smile, put his hand in his breast-pocket, and produced a flat-folded, paper parcel, from which he took out, with much care, a little odd-looking newspaper.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The American held the small parcel in his hand, but made no motion to give it up.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At last it was all settled, even to the destination of the parcel.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)