PARCEL


Meaning of PARCEL in English

I. par ‧ cel 1 S3 /ˈpɑːs ə l $ ˈpɑːr-/ BrE AmE noun [countable]

[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: Latin particula ; ⇨ ↑ particle ]

1 . especially British English an object that has been wrapped in paper or put in a special envelope, especially so that it can be sent by post SYN package :

The parcel was delivered last week.

He sends regular food parcels to his family in Libya.

parcel of

a parcel of clothes and blankets

2 . an area of land that is part of a larger area which has been divided up

parcel of

a parcel of farmland

3 . British English a small quantity of food that has been wrapped up, usually in ↑ pastry

⇨ be part and parcel of something at ↑ part 1 (28)

II. parcel 2 BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle parcelled , present participle parcelling British English , parceled , parceling American English )

parcel something ↔ off phrasal verb American English

to divide something into small parts so that it can be sold:

The new owner has parceled off many of the company’s assets.

parcel something ↔ out phrasal verb

to divide or share something among several people:

They didn’t want the federal government parceling out food supplies.

parcel something ↔ up phrasal verb British English

1 . to make something into a parcel by wrapping it up:

She parcelled up the photos.

2 . to divide something into small parts, especially so that it is easier to deal with:

University education is often parcelled up into specialist teaching units.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.