packet

USPAK-uht/ˈpækət/UKPAK-it/ˈpækɪt/

Pluralpackets

Verbpackets, packeting, packeted

13 meanings of packet

Practice

1
nouncountable
A small bundle or parcel of things, often wrapped up.
Like a little wrapped bundle you can hold in one hand.
She handed me a small packet of seeds for the garden.
He tore open the packet and poured out the contents.
Similarparcel, package, pack, bundle, sachet
Note
2
nouncountable
A small piece of data sent across a computer network.
Like cutting a long letter into small pieces and sending each piece on its own.
The video froze because a few packets got lost on the way.
Each packet travels across the network on its own.
Note
3
nouncountable
A block of data that the internet uses to carry information to the right place.
Like an envelope with an address on it, carrying your message through the mail.
Every packet on the internet carries the address it needs to reach.
The internet breaks your message into packets before sending it.
Similardatagram
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4
nouncolloquialcountable
A large amount of money.
Like having a huge pile of cash.
That new car must have cost a packet.
They made a packet selling their old house.
Similarfortune, bundle, mint, bomb, pile
Oppositepittance
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5
nouncountable
A message sent between programs over a network connection.
Like passing a note across the room and waiting to see if it arrives.
The chat app sends each message as a packet to the server.
If a packet arrives late, the program may ask for it again.
Similarsegment, datagram
Note
6
nouncountable
A boat that carried mail, goods, and passengers on a regular, fixed schedule.
Like a bus that crosses the sea, leaving on the same day each week.
The packet left the harbor every Tuesday with mail and passengers.
They booked passage on the packet bound for New York.
Note
7
verbtransitive
To wrap or pack something into a small bundle.
Like wrapping candy into small bags before a party.
Workers packet the seeds by hand before the shipping season.
The machine packets ground coffee into sealed pouches.
Similarpackage, pack, bundle, wrap
8
nounslangcountable
A man's private parts, especially the bulge seen through tight clothes.
He adjusted his packet before stepping onto the stage.
The tight cycling shorts showed off his packet.
Similarpackage
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9
nounSouth Africacountable
A thin plastic bag for carrying or holding things.
Like the bag you get at a store to carry shopping home.
She put the apples in a packet at the market.
Don't throw the empty packet on the ground.
Similarbag
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10
nouncountable
A small paper envelope holding dried plants or plant parts for study.
Like a little paper envelope where you keep dried flowers safe.
Each packet held a few dried leaves labeled with a date.
The botanist glued a small packet to the corner of the sheet.
Note

Less common meanings

11
verbtransitive
To flood a computer or network with huge amounts of data so it stops working.
Like a crowd all calling one phone at once so no real call can get through.
Attackers packet the server until it crashes.
Someone tried to packet the game's login system last night.
SimilarDDoS, flood
Note
12
verbtransitive
To send letters or goods by a mail boat.
Like mailing a letter, but the mailman is a ship.
Merchants would packet their letters to London each week.
The office packeted the documents overseas.
Similarsend, ship, dispatch, post
Note
13
verbintransitive
To travel a regular sea route using a mail boat.
Like a ferry that crosses back and forth on the same days each week.
Steamers began to packet between the two ports every week.
For decades, vessels packeted along the coast on fixed days.
Similarply, sail

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of packet apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English "pacquet." It came either from Middle French "pacquet," or was made from "pak" plus "-et."