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

So now, like other local nonprofits with clients experiencing the same fears, Santa Maria Urban Ministry is taking food to the people, setting up market-style giveaways at schools and taking pallets of groceries to secret places where immigrants feel safer. —Julia Prodis Sulek, Mercury News, 27 Nov. 2025

Once the pallets of food were on the ground, the Marines, including Avila-Castro, did an accounting of what was there and worked alongside the Philippine Armed Forces to prepare them for transport to the affected areas. —Erika I. Ritchie, Oc Register, 27 Nov. 2025

The crates filled with squawking birds are then stacked on a pallet and forklifted into a holding area. —Rene Ebersole, Rolling Stone, 18 Nov. 2025

And wholesaling introduced a new level of efficiency—goods sold from the pallets on which they were delivered required little handling. —Molly Fischer, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025

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