packet

- 4 dictionary results

–noun

a small group or package of anything: a packet of letters.

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.

Cards. a part of a pack of cards after being cut.

Informal. a large amount of money.

British Slang.

a painful blow or beating.

misfortune or failure.

–verb (used with object)

to bind up in a package or parcel.

Use packet in a Sentence

See images of packet

Search packet on the Web

Origin:
1520–30; < MF pacquet, equiv. to pacqu(er) to pack¹ + -et -et

—Synonyms
1. See package.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source

Link To packet

World English Dictionary

packet (ˈpækɪt)

—n
1.	package, Usual US and Canadian word: pack a small or medium-sized container of cardboard, paper, etc, often together with its contents: a packet of biscuits
2.	a small package; parcel
3.	Also called: packet boat a boat that transports mail, passengers, goods, etc, on a fixed short route
4.	slang a large sum of money: to cost a packet
5.	computing See also packet switching a unit into which a larger piece of data is broken down for more efficient transmission

—vb
6.	(tr) to wrap up in a packet or as a packet

[C16: from Old French pacquet, from pacquer to pack, from Old Dutch pak a pack]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Word Origin & History

packet

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

Computing Dictionary

packet definition

The unit of data sent across a network. "Packet" is a generic term used to describe a unit of data at any layer of the OSI protocol stack, but it is most correctly used to describe application layer data units ("application protocol data unit", APDU).
See also datagram, frame.
(1994-11-30)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
Cite This Source

Famous Quotations

packet

"No test tube can breed love and affection. No frozen pa..."

"And a sigh heaves from all the small things on earth,

"There are some circles in America where it seems to be ..."

"we know our end
A packet of worm-seed, a garden of..."

"The captain was a duck
With a packet on his back,<..."

More Quotes

Popular Subjects:

Friendship Funny Inspirational Life Love Proverbs

Search another word or see packet on Thesaurus | Reference