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Synonyms

pellet

American  
[pel-it] / ˈpɛl ɪt /

noun

  1. a small, rounded or spherical body, as of food or medicine.

  2. a small wad or ball of wax, paper, etc., for throwing, shooting, or the like.

  3. one of a charge of small shot, as for a shotgun.

  4. a bullet.

  5. a ball, usually of stone, formerly used as a missile.

  6. Also called cast.  Ornithology. a small, roundish mass of matter regurgitated by certain predatory birds, consisting of the indigestible remains, as the fur, feathers, and bones, of the prey.

  7. (in Romanesque architecture) a hemispherical or disklike carved ornament.

  8. Heraldry. ogress.

verb (used with object)

  1. to form into pellets; pelletize.

  2. to hit with pellets.

pellet British  
/ ˈpɛlɪt /

noun

  1. a small round ball, esp of compressed matter

    a wax pellet

    1. an imitation bullet used in toy guns

    2. a piece of small shot

  3. a stone ball formerly used as a catapult or cannon missile

  4. Also called: cast.   casting.  ornithol a mass of undigested food, including bones, fur, feathers, etc, that is regurgitated by certain birds, esp birds of prey

  5. a small pill

  6. a raised area on coins and carved or moulded ornaments

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to strike with pellets

  2. to make or form into pellets

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • pelletlike adjective

Etymology

Origin of pellet

1325–75; Middle English pelet < Middle French pelote < Vulgar Latin *pilotta, diminutive of Latin pila ball. See pill 1, -et

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

One woman was detained after she was shot with a pellet gun and went to a hospital in Tehran for treatment, a close friend said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026

The resulting plastic pellet could then be removed every few dozen washes and thrown away with general waste.

From Science Daily • Dec. 22, 2025

The fim said trading was boosted by the performance of its flexible generation, pellet production and biomass operations.

From BBC • Dec. 11, 2025

Camp Chef’s Woodwind Pro pellet smoker bridges the divide beautifully.

From Salon • Nov. 20, 2025

Instead, there was a pellet, and ‘L,’ and a pellet.

From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.