Meaning & use
parceling out
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Meanings
phrase
The act of dividing something into separate parts and giving or sharing them among different people or groups.
Grammar: Used as a noun phrase: the parceling out of land, jobs, or duties.
Patterns
- the parceling out of something
- parceling out something to someone
The parceling out of the land among the villagers took several weeks.
Critics say the parceling out of contracts to friends was unfair.
phrase
Present participle of 'parcel out': dividing something into portions and distributing them.
Grammar: This is the -ing form of the phrasal verb; it can begin a clause or follow 'be'.
Patterns
- be parceling out something
- be parceling something out
She is parceling out the remaining funds to the three teams.
They were parceling out the work so that no one had too much.
Common combinations
- parceling out land
- The government began parceling out land to small farmers.
- parceling out blame
- The report spends pages parceling out blame among the managers.
- parceling out resources
- Parceling out resources fairly is never easy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dividing
- More general; it stresses splitting into parts, while 'parceling out' stresses handing the parts to different people.
- distributing
- Focuses on giving things out; 'parceling out' often suggests small, careful portions.
Opposites
Word family
- parcel out phrasal verb
- to divide and give out in portions
- parcel noun
- a package or a piece of land
Commonly confused: parceling out or parcelling out?
parceling out vs parcelling out
British spelling with a double 'l'; American English uses one 'l' in 'parceling'.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'parceling out' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Parcel out' takes a direct object, so 'parceling out the tasks' is correct. Option 2 adds a wrong 'with', option 3 adds 'of', and option 4 uses the wrong verb form after 'are'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “parceling out”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.