Phrase guide

pass the parcel

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A children's game in which a parcel having many layers of packaging is passed from person to person around a ring while music plays, the person holding the parcel when the music is temporarily stopped being allowed to remove a single layer, and the person removing the innermost layer winning the prize contained within; in a variation of the game, there is a prize under each layer that is awarded to the person removing that layer.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: games

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a situation in which the ownership of something changes frequently.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.