a small group or package of anything: a packet of letters.
2.
Also called packet boat, packet ship.a small vessel that carries mail, passengers, and goods regularly on a fixed route, esp. on rivers or along coasts.
3.
Cards. a part of a pack of cards after being cut.
4.
Informal. a large amount of money.
5.
BritishSlang.
a.
a painful blow or beating.
b.
misfortune or failure.
–verb (used with object)
6.
to bind up in a package or parcel.
[Origin: 1520–30; < MF pacquet, equiv. to pacqu(er) to pack1+ -et-et]
1530, from M.E. pak "bundle" (see pack (n.)) + dim. suffix -et; perhaps modified on Anglo-Fr. pacquet (M.Fr. pacquet), which is ult. a dim. of M.Du. pak. A packet boat (1641) was originally one that carried mails.
a small often flat, usually paper or cardboard container, especially one in which food is sold or in which small objects are sent through the post Example: a packet of biscuits
Pack\, n. [Akin to D. pak, G. pack, Dan. pakke, Sw. packa, Icel. pakki, Gael. & Ir. pac, Arm. pak. Cf. Packet.]1. A bundle made up and prepared to be carried; especially, a bundle to be carried on the back; a load for an animal; a bale, as of goods. --Piers Plowman. 2. [Cf. Peck, n.] A number or quantity equal to the contents of a pack; hence, a multitude; a burden. "A pack of sorrows." "A pack of blessings." --Shak. Note: "In England, by a pack of meal is meant 280 lbs.; of wool, 240 lbs." --McElrath. 3. A number or quantity of connected or similar things; as: (a) A full set of playing cards; also, the assortment used in a particular game; as, a euchre pack. (b) A number of hounds or dogs, hunting or kept together. (c) A number of persons associated or leagued in a bad design or practice; a gang; as, a pack of thieves or knaves. (d) A shook of cask staves. (e) A bundle of sheet-iron plates for rolling simultaneously. 4. A large area of floating pieces of ice driven together more or less closely. --Kane. 5. An envelope, or wrapping, of sheets used in hydropathic practice, called dry pack, wet pack, cold pack, etc., according to the method of treatment. 6. [Prob. the same word; but cf. AS. p?can to deceive.] A loose, lewd, or worthless person. See Baggage. [Obs.] --Skelton. Pack animal, an animal, as a horse, mule, etc., employed in carrying packs. Pack cloth, a coarse cloth, often duck, used in covering packs or bales. Pack horse. See Pack animal (above). Pack ice. See def. 4, above. Pack moth (Zo["o]l.), a small moth (Anacampsis sarcitella) which, in the larval state, is very destructive to wool and woolen fabrics. Pack needle, a needle for sewing with pack thread. --Piers Plowman. Pack saddle, a saddle made for supporting the load on a pack animal. --Shak. Pack staff, a staff for supporting a pack; a peddler's staff. Pack thread, strong thread or small twine used for tying packs or parcels. Pack train (Mil.), a troop of pack animals.
Pack"et\, n. [F. paquet, dim. fr. LL. paccus, from the same source as E. pack. See Pack.]1. A small pack or package; a little bundle or parcel; as, a packet of letters. --Shak. 2. Originally, a vessel employed by government to convey dispatches or mails; hence, a vessel employed in conveying dispatches, mails, passengers, and goods, and having fixed days of sailing; a mail boat. Packet boat, ship, or vessel. See Packet, n., 2. Packet day, the day for mailing letters to go by packet; or the sailing day. Packet note or post. See under Paper.
Pack"et\, n. [F. paquet, dim. fr. LL. paccus, from the same source as E. pack. See Pack.]1. A small pack or package; a little bundle or parcel; as, a packet of letters. --Shak. 2. Originally, a vessel employed by government to convey dispatches or mails; hence, a vessel employed in conveying dispatches, mails, passengers, and goods, and having fixed days of sailing; a mail boat. Packet boat, ship, or vessel. See Packet, n., 2. Packet day, the day for mailing letters to go by packet; or the sailing day. Packet note or post. See under Paper.
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