A small ball or rounded mass of material, like a pill, compressed food for animals, or a bullet.
From Old French 'pelote' (ball), derived from Latin 'pila' (ball). Diminished with '-et' to indicate something small and round.
Pellets appear everywhere in nature—bird droppings are called pellets, owls regurgitate pellets of bones and fur, showing how useful the term is for small compressed objects.
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