pallet

¹

[ pal-it ]

noun

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

pallet

²

[ pal-it ]

noun

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. Horology.
   1. 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.
   2. either of the two projections of this lever that engage and release the escape wheel.
4. a painter's palette.
5. (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.
   1. a tool for decorating the spine of a book.
   2. the stamping of the name of the binder on the inside covers of a book.

verb (used with object)

, pal·let·ed, pal·let·ing.

1. palletize.

pallet

¹

/ ˈpælɪt /

noun

1. a straw-filled mattress or bed
2. any hard or makeshift bed

pallet

²

/ 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. horology 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 palette
5. music 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

Usage

See palette palate

See palette palate

Word History and Origins

Origin of pallet¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English pail(l)et, from Anglo-French paillete “chaff,” equivalent to Old French paille “straw” (from Latin palea “chaff”) + -ete -ette ( def )

Origin of pallet²

First recorded in 1400–50; Middle English palet, from Middle French palette palette

Word History and Origins

Origin of pallet¹

C14: from Anglo-Norman paillet, from Old French paille straw, from Latin palea straw

Origin of pallet²

C16: from Old French palette a little shovel, from pale spade, from Latin pala spade

Example Sentences

It took up just one square metre on a pallet but represented two years of effort and had a wholesale value of £35,000.

From BBC

“Some will have to remain in place. We’ve always had homelessness. The city housing navigator needs to stay in place. I don’t know if we need to have the pallet shelters for ever.”

From Los Angeles Times

Among them: beaded condensation dripping over products, employees moving racks of coolers between lines without changing personal protective equipment and a sample collected from a pallet jack that tested positive for listeria.

From Los Angeles Times

Copies have to be laid out by hand, rather than just rolled out on a pallet as other products often are at Costco.

From New York Times

Copies have to be laid out by hand, rather than just rolled out on a pallet as other products often are at Costco.

From New York Times

Related Words

• array
• assortment
• bag
• bale
• batch
• box
• bunch
• carton
• clump
• cluster
• crate
• heap
• package
• packet
• parcel
• pile
• quantity
• stack
• wad