Definition of PASSEL

Passel and Parcel

The loss of the sound of "r" after a vowel and before another consonant in the middle of a word is common in spoken English. This linguistic idiosyncrasy has given our language a few new words, such as cuss from curse, bust from burst, and our featured word passel from parcel. The spelling passel originated in the 15th century, but the word's use as a collective noun for an indefinite number is a 19th-century Americanism. It was common primarily in local-color writing before getting a boost in the 1940s, when it began appearing in popular weekly magazines such as Time, Newsweek, and Saturday Review.

Examples of passel in a Sentence

reporters had a whole passel of questions for the new basketball coach the young couple had a passel of babies in the span of a few years

Recent Examples on the Web The writers packed the first two seasons with a passel of Easter eggs, and now EW has the stories behind 12 of the most notable callbacks to Daniel-san's big-screen journey. — Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, "12 Karate Kid Easter eggs in Cobra Kai and the stories behind them," 4 Sep. 2020 Then, in January 2019, the core launched another commercial mission, sending a passel of Iridium satellites into space. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "SpaceX flies the same, sooty booster for the sixth time [Updated]," 18 Aug. 2020 Setup requires some prep work with an ax, a couple of large logs, and a passel of good friends. — T. Edward Nickens, Field & Stream, "Wild Fires," 9 Jan. 2017 This year’s report, along with other data ProPublica has collected on the state of the IRS, is full of evidence that the IRS has hit a passel of historic lows. — Paul Kiel, ProPublica, "Has the IRS Hit Bottom?," 30 June 2020 April 1, 2020 There’s also a passel of less celebrated drugs and therapies that are being tested in the United States and abroad. — Melissa Healystaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, "Malaria drugs aren’t the only ones on the shelf that might help coronavirus patients," 3 Apr. 2020 This neighbor had a nice family with a stair-step passel of children of an indeterminate number. — Steve Meyer, Anchorage Daily News, "If man had to hunt to survive, how long would our stocks of fish and game last?," 22 Mar. 2020 The board, which was 20 minutes late in coming into public session from behind closed doors, conducted a passel of routine business before punting on the only item that could have sparked confrontation — the annual election of board officers. — David Jesse, Detroit Free Press, "Wayne State University board conducts routine business, which is news," 31 Jan. 2020 August 5: Toni Morrison, 88 The influential author, whose novels capture the black experience and offer telling insights into American history, won a passel of literary awards over her long career, including the Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Prize. — oregonlive, "The departed: The stars, innovators and scoundrels, from Oregon and beyond, who died in 2019," 30 Dec. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'passel.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.