pallet

1 of 2

noun (1)

pal·​let ˈpa-lət 

1

: a portable platform for handling, storing, or moving materials and packages (as in warehouses, factories, or vehicles)

2

: a wooden flat-bladed instrument

3

: a lever or surface in a timepiece that receives an impulse from the escapement wheel and imparts motion to a balance or pendulum

pallet

2 of 2

noun (2)

1

: a straw-filled tick or mattress

2

: a small, hard, or temporary bed

Examples of pallet in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Riverside firefighters battled a large fire at a pallet yard on Monday afternoon, which quickly engulfed dozens of wooden pallets and spread to a field of vegetation as flames were fueled by strong winds and intense temperatures in the area. —Dean Fioresi, CBS News, 16 Mar. 2026

That works out to around 485 pallets per day, with around 70% of them containing food supplies, according to OCHA. —Chantal Da Silva, NBC news, 13 Mar. 2026

Global’s Instagram account shows employees packing food products, moving large pallets of boxes by forklift onto and off trucks and, generally, handling product movement. —David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 6 Mar. 2026

That includes warehouse pallets, Pallet Containers, or PALCONs, and Joint Modular Intermodal Containers, known as JMICs. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 2 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle French palette, literally, small shovel — more at palette

Noun (2)

Middle English paillet, from Anglo-French paillete bundle of straw, from paille straw, from Latin palea chaff, straw; akin to Sanskrit palāva chaff

First Known Use

Noun (1)

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for pallet

• alate
• ballot
• fallot
• mallet
• palate
• palette
• shallot

Kids Definition

pallet

noun

pal·​let

ˈpal-ət

1

: a straw-filled mattress

2

: a small, hard, or temporary bed