- Home
- Idioms
- parcel
parcel
bag and baggage
With all of one's possessions. You need to be out of your dorm room, bag and baggage, by Monday morning.
bag and baggage
and part and parcelwith one's luggage; with all one's possessions. Sally showed up at our door bag and baggage one Sunday morning. All right, if you won't pay the rent, out with you, bag and baggage! Get all your stuff—part and parcel—out of here!
parcel someone or something out
Fig. to divide up and send or give away people or things. Carla parceled all the uniforms out so everyone would have one to wear for the parade. We will parcel out the children for the summer.
parcel something up
to wrap something up in a package. Would you parcel the papers up and set them in the corner? Parcel up the files and place them on top of the file cabinet.
parcel out something
also parcel something out to give parts of something to different people The bookkeeper spent yesterday parceling out the profits from the deal. The settlement is very small and I'm glad I'm not the one who has to parcel it out.
part and parcel (of something)
something that cannot be separated from a condition or activity Being recognized on the street is part and parcel of being a celebrity.
bag and baggage
(slightly formal) with all the things that you own We were told we'd have to be out of the house, bag and baggage, in a week's time.
part and parcel
if something is part and parcel of an experience, it is a necessary part of that experience which cannot be avoided Being recognised in the street is all part and parcel of being famous.
bag and baggage
All of one's belongings, especially with reference to departing with them; completely, totally. For example, The day he quit his job, John walked out, bag and baggage. Originating in the 1400s, this phrase at first meant an army's property, and to march off bag and baggage meant that the departing army was not leaving anything behind for the enemy's use. By the late 1500s, it had been transferred to other belongings.
parcel out
Divide into parts and distribute, as in She parceled out the remaining candy among the children. This idiom uses parcel in the sense of "divide into small portions." [Mid-1500s]
part and parcel
An essential or basic element, as in Traveling is part and parcel of Zach's job. Used since the 15th century as a legal term, with part meaning "a portion" and parcel "something integral with a whole," this idiom began to be used more loosely from about 1800. Although both nouns have the same basic meaning, the redundancy lends emphasis.
parcel out
v. To divide something into parts or portions for distribution: The teacher parceled out the cookies to the pupils. I parceled the free tickets out to my friends.
parcel up
v. To gather or tie something together in a tight package; wrap up: He parceled up the clothes and took them to the yard sale. She is going to parcel those dry goods up and deliver them to the shelter.
bag and baggage
1. With all one's belongings.
2. To a complete degree; entirely.
part and parcel
A basic or essential part: Working overtime is part and parcel of my job.