packet
packet — noun
1. a paper or cardboard holder used to sell several small things together.
a paper or cardboard holder used to sell several small things together.
Nina bought a packet of sunflower seeds at the night market.
pattern: a packet of + goods
The screws come in a brown packet beside the toolbox.
On the shelf, each packet held ten bright birthday candles.
Dad tore open the biscuit packet before the tea break.
collocation: biscuit packet
- packet of seeds
- packet of biscuits
- open a packet
- tear a packet open
Grammar Patterns
a packet of + small goods
open/tear a packet
Usage Note
Often names the outer packaging for small goods sold together, especially food, seeds, or household items. Distinguish from sense 2, which is usually for a single small amount used once.
Common Mistakes
2. a sealed paper or plastic pouch with a small amount inside for one use.
a sealed paper or plastic pouch with a small amount inside for one use.
Mia tipped a sugar packet into her coffee at the station.
single-use amount
Each lunch tray had a small packet of tomato sauce.
pattern: a packet of + sauce
The nurse mixed the powder from one packet with water.
At the hotel, Leo kept shampoo packets in his travel bag.
- sugar packet
- sauce packet
- shampoo packet
- one packet of powder
Grammar Patterns
a packet of sugar/salt/sauce
one packet of + powder
Usage Note
Usually for a very small amount of sugar, sauce, shampoo, medicine powder, or a similar substance. Distinguish from sense 1, which focuses on the package used to sell goods rather than a one-use amount.
Common Mistakes
3. a small wrapped item prepared for mailing, carrying, or giving as a present.
a small wrapped item prepared for mailing, carrying, or giving as a present.
Aunt Mei mailed a small packet of cookies to Eric.
pattern: mail a packet
A packet from Osaka arrived on our porch this morning.
pattern: a packet from + place
At the post office, Rosa handed over the scarf packet for mailing.
The clerk weighed the packet before printing the postage label.
- mail a packet
- open a packet
- packet from home
- weigh a packet
Grammar Patterns
send/mail a packet
a packet from + place/person
Usage Note
This sense refers to the wrapped object itself, especially when it is being mailed or handed to someone. Distinguish from senses 1 and 2, which focus more on packaging for goods or one-use contents.
Common Mistakes
4. a group of papers given together to explain something or help with a task.
a group of papers given together to explain something or help with a task.
New parents receive an information packet on the first school day.
common modifier: information packet
The bank gave us a packet with loan forms and fee details.
Before the tour, visitors read a safety packet at the gate.
The coach handed each player a packet with camp rules.
pattern: hand someone a packet
- information packet
- welcome packet
- application packet
- packet with forms
- folder
can mean the holder for papers rather than the papers themselves
- kit
often includes papers plus other items for a purpose
- handout set
describes classroom or meeting papers given together
Grammar Patterns
an information/welcome packet
hand out a packet
Usage Note
Often appears with words such as information, application, welcome, or safety. The packet usually includes several papers collected for one purpose.
Common Mistakes
5. a piece of digital data carried as one unit through a network.
a piece of digital data carried as one unit through a network.
The router dropped one packet during the video call.
common verb: drop a packet
Our app sends a packet every second to check the link.
pattern: send a packet
Engineers traced the damaged packet back to the school server.
When the network slowed, several packets arrived out of order.
packet order in network traffic
- data packet
- packet loss
- packet header
- send a packet
- data unit
a broad explanatory phrase rather than the exact technical term
- message fragment
helps explain the idea, though a packet is not always simply a broken message
- frame
a related networking term at a different technical layer
Grammar Patterns
send/receive a packet
drop/lose a packet
Usage Note
Common with verbs such as send, receive, drop, and route. In learner-friendly terms, a long message is often broken into packets before it travels across the network.
Common Mistakes
6. a rude slang word for the male genitals.
a rude slang word for the male genitals.
The boys made a rude joke about getting hit in the packet.
slang use in joking talk
After the fall, Jake grabbed his packet and sat on the grass.
Tom yelled after a ball hit him in the packet.
pattern: hit someone in the packet
The coach warned the team to wear cups and protect the packet.
- hit in the packet
- protect the packet
Grammar Patterns
hit someone in the packet
protect the packet
Usage Note
Common in crude joking talk rather than careful or medical language. Distinguish from neutral words such as 'genitals' or from broader body-area words such as 'groin'.
7. a very big sum of money.
a very big sum of money.
The old shop sold for a packet after the station opened.
pattern: for a packet
Maya spent a packet on concert tickets for the whole family.
pattern: spend a packet on + noun
Repairs on the beach house cost the owners a packet.
common pattern: cost a packet
His uncle made a packet selling fruit land near the airport.
common pattern: make a packet
- cost a packet
- spend a packet
- pay a packet
- make a packet
- peanuts
informal for a very small amount of money
Grammar Patterns
cost a packet
make a packet
Usage Note
Usually appears after verbs such as cost, spend, pay, or make. This is informal and especially familiar in British English.
Common Mistakes
Word family
Synonym discussion
Sense: noun/1
For noun/1, packet usually means a small paper or cardboard container holding small goods for sale, such as seeds or biscuits. Pack is a very close everyday word and is often the more usual choice for cigarettes, cards, or groups of items sold together. Package is broader and can refer to almost any wrapped or boxed thing, so it is less specific. Parcel is mainly for something wrapped for sending, which matches sense 3 better than sense 1. Sachet is narrower still: it usually means a tiny sealed packet with one-use powder or liquid inside, so it fits sense 2. Compare: Nina bought a packet of seeds. The driver left a parcel at the gate. The cafe gave us two sachets of sugar.
Etymology
Packet came into English from French paquet, which meant a small pack or bundle. That French form is related to pack, with a small-size ending added. Over time, English kept the basic idea of something gathered together in a small bundle, and later extended it to papers, units of computer data, and informal money uses.