Standard Lemma guide

passel

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

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  • /ˈpæsl/
  • rhymes with -æsəl
  • CMU ARPABET: P AE1 S IH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An indeterminately large quantity or group.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Appalachia, informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

(often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a batch of letters
  • a deal of trouble
  • a lot of money
  • he made a mint on the stock market
  • see the rest of the winners in our huge passel of photos
  • it must have cost plenty
  • a slew of journalists
  • a wad of money

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: batch, deal, flock, good deal, great deal, hatful, heap, lot, mass, mess, mickle, mint, mountain, muckle, peck, pile, plenty, pot, quite a little, raft, sight, slew, spate, stack, tidy sum, wad

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: large indefinite quantity, large indefinite amount

Narrower terms: flood, inundation, deluge, torrent, haymow

History

Etymology

A variant of parcel with dialectal assimilation of /ɹ/ before a coronal consonant.