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

Forty-pound blocks of Romano cheese sat on a pallet like bricks. —Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2025

The center grew up in an apartment eight minutes away, sleeping on the living room floor on pallets with a dozen or more of her cousins. —Luca Evans, Orange County Register, 11 Dec. 2024

The new design is a miniature reactor which fits on a standard military pallet and produces 22.4 liters (0.8 gallons) of hydrogen gas per minute. —David Hambling, Forbes, 5 Dec. 2024

This tiny iridescent green insect, accidentally imported from Asia on pallets, is deadly to ash trees and will likely wipe out more than a billion of them before it’s done reproducing itself across the Northeast. —Debra Utacia Krol, USA TODAY, 29 Nov. 2024

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

Kids Definition

pallet

noun

pal·​let

ˈpal-ət

1

: a straw-filled mattress

2

: a small, hard, or temporary bed