pallet

1 of 2

noun (1)

pal·​let ˈpa-lət How to pronounce pallet (audio)
1
: a straw-filled tick or mattress
2
: a small, hard, or temporary bed

pallet

2 of 2

noun (2)

1
: a wooden flat-bladed instrument
2
: a lever or surface in a timepiece that receives an impulse from the escapement wheel and imparts motion to a balance or pendulum
3
: a portable platform for handling, storing, or moving materials and packages (as in warehouses, factories, or vehicles)

Examples of pallet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
To transport the pallets from the barge and the ship to land, a temporary jetty will be built in an undisclosed location in Gaza, though the precise details of the effort are unclear. Scott McLean, CNN, 12 Mar. 2024 The pallet is the largest object ever thrown out from the ISS. Passant Rabie / Gizmodo, Quartz, 12 Mar. 2024 The United States dropped pallets of food aid into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, expanding America’s direct role in addressing a growing humanitarian crisis and underscoring a widening gap between Washington and Israel over its handling of its war against Hamas. Dan Lamothe, Washington Post, 2 Mar. 2024 Jordan's military said while most of the pallets dropped Thursday landed in northern Gaza, the wind had blown one of them across the border into Israel. Jane Arraf, NPR, 1 Mar. 2024 Sometimes individual pallets were surveyed, and, when individual items were rejected, the whole truck was rejected. Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 26 Jan. 2024 The mainstays of a grocery warehouse -- wooden pallets and forklifts -- are still there, but the pallets are loaded by robots in the order that food boxes are unloaded in each store aisle. Maria Halkias The Dallas Morning News (tns), arkansasonline.com, 12 Mar. 2024 The United States will continue precautions to reduce risk, Ryder said, like limiting pallet weight, identifying drop zones with fewer people and sending messages to civilians before dropping the aid. Alex Horton, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2024 The pallets were loaded with cardboard boxes containing rice, flour, sugar, tea and milk, along with sanitary napkins. Jane Arraf, NPR, 1 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pallet.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English paillet, from Anglo-French paillete bundle of straw, from paille straw, from Latin palea chaff, straw; akin to Sanskrit palāva chaff

Noun (2)

Middle French palette, literally, small shovel — more at palette

First Known Use

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pallet was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near pallet

Cite this Entry

“Pallet.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pallet. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pallet

noun
pal·​let
ˈpal-ət
1
: a straw-filled mattress
2
: a small, hard, or temporary bed

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