Parcel

Par"cel, a. & adv. Part or half; in part; partially. Shak. [Sometimes hyphened with the word following.]

The worthy dame was parcel-blind.

One that . . . was parcel-bearded [partially bearded].

Parcel poet, a half poet; a poor poet. [Obs.] B. Jonson.

Par"cel, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Parceled (?) or Parcelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Parceling or Parcelling.]

1. To divide and distribute by parts or portions; -- often with out or into. "Their woes are parceled, mine are general." Shak.

These ghostly kings would parcel out my power.

The broad woodland parceled into farms.

2. To add a parcel or item to; to itemize. [R.]

That mine own servant should
Parcel the sum of my disgraces by
Addition of his envy.

3. To make up into a parcel; as, to parcel a customer's purchases; the machine parcels yarn, wool, etc.

To parcel a rope (Naut.), to wind strips of tarred canvas tightly arround it. Totten. -- To parcel a seam (Naut.), to cover it with a strip of tarred canvas.

Par"cel (?), n. [F. parcelle a small part, fr. (assumed) LL. particella, dim. of L. pars. See Part, n., and cf. Particle.] 1. A portion of anything taken separately; a fragment of a whole; a part. [Archaic] "A parcel of her woe." Chaucer.

Two parcels of the white of an egg.

The parcels of the nation adopted different forms of self-government.

2. (Law) A part; a portion; a piece; as, a certain piece of land is part and parcel of another piece.

3. An indiscriminate or indefinite number, measure, or quantity; a collection; a group.

This youthful parcel
Of noble bachelors stand at my disposing.

4. A number or quantity of things put up together; a bundle; a package; a packet.

'Tis like a parcel sent you by the stage.

Bill of parcels. See under 6th Bill. -- Parcel office, an office where parcels are received for keeping or forwarding and delivery. -- Parcel post, that department of the post office concerned with the collection and transmission of parcels. -- Part and parcel. See under Part.