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

One Florida family sued NASA last year for the damage caused when a bit of space junk from a pallet of used batteries that came from the International Space Station came through their roof. —Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY, 23 Jan. 2025

Couldn’t the Supervisor et al just let Jod load up a few pallets and call it a day? —Matt Webb Mitovich, TVLine, 10 Jan. 2025

The industry-specific solution supports circular logistic flows for returnable and reusable packaging material such as containers, boxes, and pallets — from supplier and customer deliveries to intra-company movements and the journey back to the company. —Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025

Before sheriff’s deputies found his body on Thanksgiving morning last year, shot to death in a desolate stretch of warehouses and pallet yards west of Compton, Eduardo Escobedo Sr. had become rich beyond his dreams. —Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 27 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