- (especially British English) (North American English usually package)something that is wrapped in paper or put into a thick envelope so that it can be sent by mail, carried easily or given as a present
- There's a parcel and some letters for you.
- She was carrying a parcel of books under her arm.
Extra Examples- He came in laden with parcels for the children.
- I sealed up the box with brown parcel tape.
- She went to collect her parcel from the depot.
- The courier tried to deliver a parcel yesterday but I'd already left.
- The waiter had our left-over food made up into a parcel to take home.
- This morning a parcel arrived containing a signed copy of his new book.
- We left little parcels outside each person's door.
- a parcel-delivery business
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- large
- little
- small
- …
- post
- send
- deliver
- …
- arrive
- contain something
- delivery
- tape
- bomb
- …
- in a/the parcel
- parcel from
- parcel to
- …
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- a piece of land
- 50 five-acre parcels have already been sold.
- (especially British English) a small amount of food that is wrapped in something, usually pastry, before it is cooked
- filo pastry parcels
- cheese and spinach parcels
- Fold up the pastry to form a parcel.
- Place the fish on top, tucking any tail ends under to make neat parcels.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- neat
- baked
- crispy
- …
- be stuffed with something
Word Originlate Middle English (chiefly in the sense ‘small portion’): from Old French parcelle, from Latin particula ‘small part’.
Idioms
See parcel in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee parcel in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishpart and parcel of something
- an essential part of something
- Keeping the accounts is part and parcel of my job.
More Like This Alliteration in idiomsAlliteration in idioms- belt and braces
- black and blue
- born and bred
- chalk and cheese
- chop and change
- done and dusted
- down and dirty
- in dribs and drabs
- eat somebody out of house and home
- facts and figures
- fast and furious
- first and foremost
- forgive and forget
- hale and hearty
- hem and haw
- kith and kin
- mix and match
- part and parcel
- puff and pant
- to rack and ruin
- rant and rave
- risk life and limb
- short and sweet
- signed and sealed
- spick and span
- through thick and thin
- this and that
- top and tail
- tried and tested
- wax and wane
Check pronunciation:
parcel