Library / English Dictionary

PARCEL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: parcelled    , parcelling   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The allotment of some amount by dividing something

Example:

death gets more than its share of attention from theologians

Synonyms:

parcel; portion; share

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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 2

Meaning:

A wrapped container

Synonyms:

package; parcel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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"):

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

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

packet (a small package or bundle)

Derivation:

parcel (make into a wrapped container)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A collection of things wrapped or boxed together

Synonyms:

bundle; package; packet; parcel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

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)

Sense 4

Meaning:

An extended area of land

Synonyms:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

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)

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))

yard (a tract of land where logs are accumulated)

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))

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

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)

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

Derivation:

parcel (divide into parts)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cover with strips of canvas

Example:

parcel rope

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

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:

Divide into parts

Example:

The developers parceled the land

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

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)

Credits

 Context examples: 

"Has no letter been left here for me since we went out?" said she to the footman who then entered with the parcels.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

They crowded in upon him, while he, ignorant of their language, could but clutch the girl with one hand and the parcel with the other, looking wildly about in search of help.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Infrared light has been assigned colors we see with our eyes, revealing young stars in orange and yellow, and a central parcel of gas in blue.

(The 'Serpent' star-forming cloud hatches new stars, NASA)

I am convinced, sir, she said, that this matter is a mistake, and that the parcel was never meant for me at all.

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

"Look here," said he, unfolding a parcel in his hand, and displaying a small miniature painting, "do you know who that is?"

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

He assured himself of the existence of his three separate parcels of matches, though he did not stop to count them.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Money from the eighth house tends to come in parcels—large chunks—sporadically.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

It is all part and parcel of the same system of quackery and nonsense, for which I regret to say that the writer is notorious.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Also, there were horns, and dolls, and toys of various sorts, and parcels and bundles of candies and nuts that filled the arms of all the Silvas to overflowing.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

The middle seat of the chaise was not drawn out, though there were three people to go in it, and his daughter's maid had so crowded it with parcels that Miss Morland would not have room to sit; and, so much was he influenced by this apprehension when he handed her in, that she had some difficulty in saving her own new writing-desk from being thrown out into the street.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)