PELLET

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does pellet mean? 

• PELLET (noun)
  The noun PELLET has 2 senses:

1. a small sphere

2. a solid missile discharged from a firearm

  Familiarity information: PELLET used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PELLET (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A small sphere

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

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

ball; globe; orb (an object with a spherical shape)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A solid missile discharged from a firearm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

pellet; shot

Context example:

the shot buzzed past his ear

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

missile; projectile (a weapon that is forcibly thrown or projected at a targets but is not self-propelled)

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

BB; BB shot (a small pellet fired from an air rifle or BB gun)

bird shot; buckshot; duck shot (small lead shot for shotgun shells)

grape; grapeshot (a cluster of small projectiles fired together from a cannon to produce a hail of shot)

ball; musket ball (a solid projectile that is shot by a musket)

Holonyms ("pellet" is a part of...):

canister; canister shot; case shot (a metallic cylinder packed with shot and used as ammunition in a firearm)

 Context examples 

A radioactive implant consisting of individual pellets.

(Loose Seed Implant, NCI Thesaurus)

A pellet intended for insertion securely within the body.

(Implantable Pellet Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

Also called pellets or pilules, are made of pure sucrose, lactose, or other polysaccharides.

(Globule Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

"These organisms contribute to the biological carbon pump by creating carbon-rich fecal pellets that sink rapidly into the ocean," Stukel said.

(Research provides new view of the critical role of plankton in marine carbon storage, National Science Foundation)

A dosing unit equal to the amount of active ingredient(s) contained in a pellet.

(Pellet Dosing Unit, NCI Thesaurus)

You must have examined the house very carefully to find a single pellet of paper.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A dose of medicine in the form of a small pellet.

(Pill Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

As I turned back, my eye caught the pellet of paper which the prisoner had tossed upon the table.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A pellet covered with a thin layer of substance that is designed to release active and/or inert ingredient(s) at a controlled, prolonged rate so as to reduce dosing frequency.

(Extended Release Coated Pellet Dosage Form, NCI Thesaurus)

When used to treat prostate cancer, radioactive seeds (small pellets that contain radioactive palladium) are placed in the prostate.

(Palladium Pd-103, NCI Dictionary)