See Also: packet(dictionary)
packet(dictionary)
pay packet(dictionary)
Packet - Poker(gambling)
packet boat(dictionary)
packet-switching(dictionary)
wage-packet(dictionary)

packet (iou)



packet noun & verb. Also paquet, pacquet. M16.
[from PACK noun + -ET1, perh. of Anglo-Norman formation: cf. Anglo-Latin paccettum.]
A. noun.
A small pack, package, or parcel. Orig., a parcel of letters or dispatches, esp. the State parcel or mail to and from foreign countries. Also in titles of newspapers. M16.
J. Braine There was a packet of cigarettes on the locker. A. Harding A small packet neatly tied with a brown ribbon. B. Chatwin I had brought..some packets of his favourite Earl Grey tea.
b. fig. A small group of similar things (or persons), spec. lies. Chiefly contempt. L16.
sell a person a packet colloq. deceive or swindle a person.
In full packet-boat. A boat travelling at regular intervals between two ports (orig. for the conveyance of mail). M17.
F. Raphael Byron..set off for Falmouth to board the Lisbon packet.
Esp. Military. A bullet, a shell; fig. trouble, misfortune. Chiefly in stop a packet, catch a packet, cop a packet below. slang. E20.
stop a packet, catch a packet, cop a packet be killed or wounded; fig. get into trouble; be reprimanded.
A large sum of money. Freq. in cost a packet, lose a packet, make a packet. slang. E20.
pretty packet: see PRETTY adjective.
Physics. A localized disturbance of a field or medium that retains its identity as it travels; spec. = wave packet s.v. WAVE noun. E20.
Attrib. & comb.: In the senses 'made up into or sold in packets', as packet soup, packet tobacco, etc.; 'operating as a packet-boat', as packet ship, packet steamer, etc. Special combs., as packet-boat: see sense 2 above; packet network a data transmission network using packet-switching; packet radio a method of broadcasting that makes use of radio signals carrying packets of data; packet rat derog. a seaman, spec. one who specialized in the Atlantic crossing; packet-switched adjective employing packet-switching; packet-switching a mode of data transmission in which a message is broken into a number of parts which are sent independently, over whatever route is optimum for each packet, and re-assembled at the destination.
b. verb trans. Make up into or wrap up in a packet. E17.