pellet

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English pelote, pelet, from Old French pelote (“small ball”), from Vulgar Latin *pilotta, diminutive of Latin pila (“ball”). Doublet of pelota.

noun

1. A small, compressed, hard chunk of matter.
   a pellet of wood, paper, or ore
2. A lead projectile used as ammunition in rifled air guns.
3. Compressed byproduct of digestion regurgitated by owls and many other birds of prey, which serves as a waste disposal mechanism for indigestible parts of food, such as fur and bones.
4. (heraldry) A roundel sable (black circular spot).
5. One of the short conductive tubes in a Pelletron particle accelerator.

verb

1. To form into pellets.
2. To strike with pellets.