pallet

UK: /ˈpælət/ US: /ˈpælɪt/ ,(pal′it)

Inflections of 'pallet' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

pallets

v 3rd person singular

palleting

v pres p

palleted

v past

palleted

v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

pal•let¹ /ˈpælɪt/   n. [countable]

1. a mattress of straw.
2. a small bed.

pal•let² /ˈpælɪt/   n. [countable]

1. a small, low, flat platform on which goods are placed for storage or moving:
   The workers loaded the pallets into the warehouse.
2. a painter's palette.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pal•let¹  (pal′it), n. 

1. a bed or mattress of straw.
2. a small or makeshift bed.

• Latin palea chaff ) + -ete ette
• Anglo-French paillete, equivalent. to Old French paille straw (
• Middle English pailet 1325–75

pal•let²  (pal′it), n., v., -let•ed, -let•ing. 
n. 

1. a small, low, portable platform on which goods are placed for storage or moving, as in a warehouse or vehicle.
2. a flat board or metal plate used to support ceramic articles during drying.
3. [Horol.]
   • Time a lever with three projections, two of which intermittently lock and receive impulses from the escape wheel and one which transmits these impulses to the balance.
   • Time either of the two projections of this lever that engage and release the escape wheel. See diag. under lever escapement. 
4. a painter's palette.
5. Mechanical Engineering (on a pawl) a lip or projection that engages with the teeth of a ratchet wheel.
6. Printing typeholder.
7. (in gilding) an instrument used to take up the gold leaves from the pillow and to apply and extend them.
8. a shaping tool used by potters and consisting of a flat blade or plate with a handle at one end.
9. [Bookbinding.]
   • Printing a tool for decorating the spine of a book.
   • Printing the stamping of the name of the binder on the inside covers of a book.

v.t. 

10. palletize.

• Middle French palette small shovel. See palette
• 1550–60

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

pallet / ˈpælɪt/ noun

1. a straw-filled mattress or bed

Etymology: 14th Century: from Anglo-Norman paillet, from Old French paille straw, from Latin palea strawUSAGE
See note at palette, palate

pallet / ˈpælɪt/ noun

1. an instrument with a handle and a flat, sometimes flexible, blade used by potters for shaping
2. a standard-sized platform of box section open at two ends on which goods may be stacked. The open ends allow the entry of the forks of a lifting truck so that the palletized load can be raised and moved about easily
3. the locking lever that engages and disengages alternate end pawls with the escape wheel to give impulses to the balance
4. a variant spelling of palette1
5. a flap valve of wood faced with leather that opens to allow air from the wind chest to enter an organ pipe, causing it to sound

Etymology: 16th Century: from Old French palette a little shovel, from pale spade, from Latin pala spadeUSAGE
See note at palette, palate