packet

UK: /ˈpækɪt/ US: /ˈpækɪt/ ,(pak′it)

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

pack•et /ˈpækɪt/   n. [countable]

1. a small package or parcel:
   a packet of letters.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pack•et  (pak′it), n. 

1. a small group or package of anything: a packet of letters.
2. Naval Terms Also called pack′et boat′, pack′et ship′. a small vessel that carries mail, passengers, and goods regularly on a fixed route, esp. on rivers or along coasts.
3. Games [Cards.] a part of a pack of cards after being cut.
4. Informal Terms a large amount of money.
5. British Terms Brit. Slang.
   • British Terms a painful blow or beating.
   • British Terms misfortune or failure.

v.t. 

6. to bind up in a package or parcel.

• Middle French pacquet, equivalent. to pacqu(er) to pack¹ + -et -et
• 1520–30

Synonyms

• 1. See package. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

packet / ˈpækɪt/ noun

1. a small or medium-sized container of cardboard, paper, etc, often together with its contents: a packet of biscuits
   Usual US and Canadian word: package, pack
2. a small package; parcel
3. Also called: packet boat a boat that transports mail, passengers, goods, etc, on a fixed short route
4. a large sum of money: to cost a packet
5. a unit into which a larger piece of data is broken down for more efficient transmission

verb

1. (transitive) to wrap up in a packet or as a packet

Etymology: 16th Century: from Old French pacquet, from pacquer to pack, from Old Dutch pak a pack