Meanings
nounpellet (plural pellets)
plural pellets
- A small, compressed, hard chunk of matter.
a pellet of wood, paper, or ore
- A lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns.
- Compressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls and many other birds of prey, which serves as a waste disposal mechanism for indigestible parts of food, such as fur and bones.
- One of the short conductive tubes in a Pelletron particle accelerator.
verbpellet (third-person singular simple present pellets, present participle pelleting, simple past and past participle pelleted)
present singular third person pellets · participle present pelleting · participle past pelleted · past pelleted
- To form into pellets.
Synonyms: pelletize
- To strike with pellets.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA roundel sable (black circular spot).
Similar
verbTo form into pellets.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpila“ball”
- Vulgar Latin*pilotta
- Old Frenchpelote“small ball”
- Middle Englishpelote
- Englishpellet
Inherited from Middle English pelote, pelet, from Old French pelote (“small ball”), from Vulgar Latin *pilotta, diminutive of Latin pila (“ball”). Doublet of pelota.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Vulgar Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian топче, сачма
- топче (topče)A small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- сачма (sačma)A lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
Catalan pèl·let, perdigó
- pèl·letA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- perdigóA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
- egagròpilaCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
Czech diabolka
- diabolkaA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
Dutch balletje, propje
- balletjeA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- propjeA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- pelletA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- kogeltjeA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
- hagelkorrelA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
- uilenbalCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
- braakbalCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
Finnish pelletti, luoti
- pellettiA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- luotiA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
- oksennuspalloCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
French granule, plomb
- granuleA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- plombA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
- peloteCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
German Gewölle
- GewölleCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
Hindi ढेला, ढेला
- ढेला (ḍhelā)A small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- ढेला (ḍhelā)A lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
Hungarian granulátum, sörét
- granulátumA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- sörétA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
- köpetCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
- bagolyköpetCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
Icelandic bollur
- bollurCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
Korean 총탄
- 총탄 (chongtan)A lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
Māori hāmoamoa
- hāmoamoaA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
Persian حبه, ساچمه
- حبه (habbe)A small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- ساچمه (sâčme)A lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
Polish granulka, śrut
- granulkaA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- śrutA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
Portuguese sedimento, pelota de chumbo
- sedimentoA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- pelota de chumboA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
- chumbinhoA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
- plumadaCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
- egagrópilaCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
Russian ока́тыш, пога́дка
- ока́тыш (okátyš)A small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- пога́дка (pogádka)Compressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
Scottish Gaelic peilear
- peilearA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
Slovak granula
- granulaA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
Spanish bolita, pellet (pélet)
- bolitaA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- pellet (pélet)A small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- balínA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
- perdigónA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
- egagrópilaCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
Swedish pellet, spyboll
- pelletA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- spybollCompressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
Tagalog kamil, kamil
- kamilA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- kamilA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
Turkish top
- topA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
Ukrainian ока́ток, погадка
- ока́ток (okátok)A small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- погадка (pohadka)Compressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls
Welsh pelen, peled
- pelenA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- peledA small, compressed, hard chunk of matter
- peledA lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns
Cite this entry
APA
pellet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pellet
MLA
“pellet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pellet. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pellet,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pellet.
Source: pellet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.