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passel

passel

4 9.5
A large group of people or things
  • noun
  • /ˈpæsəl/
  • Archaic
: grupo
  • I became a very solid junior player, won a passel of state and regional events, and a handful of national ones.
  • a passel of kids
  • a passel of awards
  • a passel of men

Examples

  • Just a passel of memories.

  • What a beautiful passel of girls they are, and all treasured.

    Blog text (3)
  • A whole passel of men!

  • A whole passel of women.

  • Off to the right is a passel of white men.

    Blog text (15)
  • However, my wife and I had a whole passel of relatives over, several of whom spent the night.

    Blog text (24)
  • Rose married a widowed man with a passel of kids and went to live in Chicago.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • He sees a priest with a passel of boys in white shirts and blue ties.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • He edged through the passel of men around Charissa and came to her side.

    Fiction book (2001)
  • One Saturday morning, a whole passel of farm boys gathered on that hill.

Synonyms

lot
vspassel
∞ 1.0

A large amount of something

is similar but prefers a slightly informal grouping with of phrase
group
vspassel
∞ 1.0

A number of people or things seen as one unit

is more informal and often used with of to mean many
plenty
vspassel
∞ 1.0

A large amount that is more than needed

focuses on many without implying sufficiency or excess
crowd
vspassel
∞ 1.0

Many people or things are close together in one place

is broader, applying to many without implying close gathering
deal
vspassel
∞ 1.4

A large amount of something

is similar but more tied to a casual collective expression
pile
vspassel
426 1.9

A heap of things put together

is about number rather than physical piling
stack
vspassel
182 1.0

A pile of things placed one on top of another

is about a large number without implying an arranged group
mountain
vspassel
  • Informal
140 3.2

A very large amount of something that is hard to deal with

is a plain count word and less imagistic or overwhelming
mass
vspassel
71 2.7

A large collection of things often including people

is similar but focuses on countable groups used with of
host
vspassel
  • Literature
69 9.9

A very large group of people, often soldiers

is the everyday, informal way to name many people or things
horde
vspassel
68 3.4

A large moving group of people or animals that seems hard to control and overwhelming

is neutral and does not stress movement or disorder
heap
vspassel
  • Informal
54 1.4

A large amount of things often in a messy pile

is a general count term not stressing disorder or pile shape
legion
vspassel
54 5.1

A very large number of people or things

is more casual and commonly used in speech with of
slew
vspassel
  • Informal
46 5.7

A large number of things or people

is equally numerical but often used in conversational phrases
multitude
vspassel
38 4.4

A large number of things or people

is less formal and more idiomatic in everyday speech
raft
vspassel
  • Informal
14 5.9

A large number of things or people

is similar but slightly more associated with set phrase use
mess
vspassel
  • Informal
13 2.9

A large number or amount of something

is neutral and standard, not chiefly regional or informal
sight
vspassel
  • Informal
11 7.8

A large number or amount of something

is standard and used broadly rather than dialectal
peck
vspassel
  • Archaic
2 8.0

A large number of things used informally to mean a lot

is the common modern alternative without regional flavor
muckle
vspassel
  • Literature
1 9.9

A large amount of something

is comparable but more formal and tied to set expressions
mickle
vspassel
  • Archaic
9.9

A large amount of something like land or grain

is the everyday term rather than an old literary form

How Many

myriad
36 6.8
multitude
38 4.4
passel
  • Archaic
4 9.5
throng
28 5.9
crowd
∞ 1.0
group
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

passel singular
passels plural

Etymology

Passel probably comes from a word like parcel, which meant a 'bundle' or 'package'. So today a passel is a 'bundle' of people or things, a fairly large group counted together.