I. ˈpakə̇t, usu -ə̇d.+V noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle French pacquet, from pacquer to pack (from pakke pack, from Middle Dutch pak ) + -et — more at pack
1.
a. : a number of letters dispatched at one time
the packets kept coming from England, each sheet written to the rim — Virginia Woolf
b. : a small group or collection
packet of rumors
watched little packets of twelve, fifteen, or eighteen tanks approach their positions — Russell Hill
c. : a small cluster or mass
jumbled marl packets, clay balls … and pebbles of Alpine origin — Journal of Geology
a warm packet of air rises quickly — Meteorological Abstracts
d. : a somewhat cubical cluster of organisms formed as a result of cell division in three planes
2. : a passenger boat carrying mail and cargo on a regular schedule ; specifically : packet boat
3.
a. : a small bundle or parcel
a vacuum bottle of coffee and a packet of sandwiches — B.A.Williams
immobility of the patient, film packet and X-ray apparatus — Matthew Lozier
specifically : pack I 1c(1)
packet of cards
b.
(1) : a small thin package (as an envelope or a flat bag)
seed packet
packets, each of which holds the right amount of powder to make a quart of reconstituted skim milk — Marketing
(2) Britain : pay envelope
there wasn't one man in ten took his packet home — John Morrison
— usually used with pay or wage
full employment and full pay packets — Sam Pollock
counting of pounds, shillings, and pennies for a weekly wage packet — H.O.Brayer
c.
(1) Britain : salary , wage — usually used with pay or wage
the average Irishman is better off, in terms of what his wage packet will buy — Kevin Devlin
(2) : a considerable amount or number
has faced a packet of trouble since the end of the war — Margaret Stewart
lost a packet of votes up and down the country — Mollie Panter-Downes
(3) : a sizable sum of money
costing a packet , but worth it — Clemence Dane
d. : something that resembles a packet
comes to us in verbal packets — George Eiten
4. slang Britain : severe mental or physical distress ; especially : the result of illness or of a beating
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to make into or put up in a packet
a packeted roll mix — Packet Foods
III. noun
: a short fixed-length section of data that is transmitted as a unit in an electronic communications network