parcel out
English
Pronunciation
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Verb
parcel out (third-person singular simple present parcels out, present participle (US) parceling out or (UK) parcelling out, simple past and past participle (US) parceled out or (UK) parcelled out)
- (idiomatic) To divide into portions or chunks; to ration.
- It's a large job, but if we parcel it out among several people over several weeks, it shouldn't be too difficult.
- To assign.
- 1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:
- Jem parceled out our roles: I was Mrs. Radley, and all I had to do was come out and sweep the porch. Dill was old Mr. Radley: he walked up and down the sidewalk and coughed when Jem spoke to him. Jem, naturally, was Boo: he went under the front steps and shrieked and howled from time to time.
Translations
to divide into portions
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