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.