parallel — English Dictionary

parallel
Pronunciations (3)
  • /ˈpæ.ɹəˌlɛl/
    Pronunciation notes
    • Received-Pronunciation
  • /ˈpaɹəˌlɛl/
    Pronunciation notes
    • British
    • Southern
    • Standard
  • ˈpæɹəˌlɛl

Adjective

  1. Equally distant from one another at all points.

    Usage
    • not-comparable
    Examples

    The horizontal lines on my notebook paper are parallel.

    the instrument held with its plane roughly parallel to the equinoctial or celestial equato

    More examples (1)

    Upon interaction with ss- nucleic acid (NA) targets (deoxyribooligonucleotides (ODNs) or ribooligonucleotides), they form very stable anti-parallel and parallel duplexes [3 ], and the melting temperatures of the antiparallel duplexes are 10 to 15°C higher than those of the parallel duplexes.

  2. Having the same overall direction; the comparison is indicated with "to".

    Usage
    • not-comparable
    Examples

    The two railway lines are parallel.

    When honour runs parallel with the laws of God and our country, it cannot be too much cherished.

    More examples (1)

    All three parallel valleys of the Llynvi, Garw and Ogmore are much the same in physical character: the lower reaches are wooded and not unattractive, but as the railway climbs on ever-steepening grades, the hills on either hand grow barer and closer together, while in all respects the scene becomes more sombre, with the terraced, slate-roofed colliery towns and the road, railway and river all struggling for space in the narrowing defiles.

  3. Either not intersecting, or coinciding.

    Usage
    • excessive
    • not-comparable
    • said of a pair of lines
  4. Involving the processing of multiple tasks at the same time.

    Usage
    • not-comparable
    Examples

    a parallel algorithm

  5. Analogous, similar, comparable.

    Usage
    • Figurative
    • not-comparable
    Examples

    the parallel lives of two citizens

    More examples (1)

    In those days she had admired his pluralistic openness of mind, and struggled, in her kitchen, towards a parallel eclecticism, learning to cook the dosas and uttapams of South India as well as the soft meatballs of Kashmir.

  6. Coexisting but normally not interacting with the regular reality.

    Usage
    • not-comparable
    • usually
    • of realities
    Examples

    parallel universe

Adverb

  1. With a parallel relationship.

    Related words
    Examples

    The road runs parallel to the canal.

Noun

  1. One of a set of parallel lines.

    Examples

    Who made the spider parallels design, / Sure as De Moivre, without rule or line?

  2. Direction conformable to that of another line.

    Examples

    lines that from their parallel decline

  3. A line of latitude.

    Examples

    The 31st parallel passes through the center of my town.

  4. An arrangement of electrical components such that a current flows along two or more paths; see in parallel.

  5. Something identical or similar in essential respects.

    Examples
    More examples (1)

    It has also been suggested that environmental crimes might include the proposed crime of ‘ecocide’ or ‘geocide’, with proponents of this view attempting to draw parallels between destructive acts towards the environment and those against the qualifying groups for genocide. […] [M]any who advocate for the creation of either ecocide or geocide principally argue that the best place to try such crimes is through an apparatus created in a separate and environment-oriented treaty.

    None but thyself can be thy parallel.

  6. A comparison made; elaborate tracing of similarity.

    Examples

    Johnson's parallel between Dryden and Pope

  7. One of a series of long trenches constructed before a besieged fortress, by the besieging force, as a cover for troops supporting the attacking batteries. They are roughly parallel to the line of outer defenses of the fortress.

  8. A character consisting of two parallel vertical lines, used in the text to direct attention to a similarly marked note in the margin or at the foot of a page.

Verb

  1. To construct or place something parallel to something else.

    Examples

    The needle […] doth parallel and place itself upon the true meridian.

  2. Of a path etc: To be parallel to something else.

    Examples
    More examples (1)

    Archaic covered bridges lingered fearsomely out of the past in pockets of the hills, and the half-abandoned railway track paralleling the river seemed to exhale a nebulously visible air of desolation.

    Racing on, we parallel the M5 doing 95mph, according to the app on my smartphone.

  3. Of a process etc: To be analogous to something else.

  4. To compare or liken something to something else.

    Examples

    Although its spokesmen do not hesitate to parallel their oppression to that of blacks, the gay male community has chosen to ignore the voices of black gay men.

    More examples (1)

    These scholars argue that gender and sexual identity are like nature and the environment; they parallel the queer/performance connection to the environmental/performance connection. I consider, instead, how all these categories actively interact and overlap.

  5. To make to conform to something else in character, motive, aim, etc.

    Examples

    [H]is life is paralel’d / Euen with the ſtroke and line of his great Iuſtice: […]

  6. To equal; to match; to correspond to.

    Examples

    He will ſteale ſir an Egge out of a Cloiſter: for rapes and rauiſhments he paralels Neſſus.

  7. To produce or adduce as a parallel.

    Examples

    Macb[eth]. ’Twas a rough Night. / Lenox. My young remembrance cannot paralell / A fellow to it.

    Who cannot parallel theſe ſtories out of his experience?

    More examples (1)

    Many have exerciſed their Wits in parallelling the Inconveniences of Regal and Popular Government, […]

Adjective

  1. being everywhere equidistant and not intersecting

    Examples

    parallel lines never converge

    concentric circles are parallel

    More examples (1)

    dancers in two parallel rows

  2. of or relating to the simultaneous performance of multiple operations

    Examples

    parallel processing

Noun

  1. something having the property of being analogous to something else

    Broader terms
  2. an imaginary line around the Earth parallel to the equator

    Broader terms
  3. (mathematics) one of a set of parallel geometric figures (parallel lines or planes)

    Broader terms
    Examples

    parallels never meet

Verb

  1. be parallel to

    Examples

    Their roles are paralleled by ours

  2. make or place parallel to something

    Synonyms
    Broader terms
    Examples

    They paralleled the ditch to the highway

  3. duplicate or match

    Examples

    The polished surface twinned his face and chest in reverse

Word forms
paralellmore parallelmost parallelparallelsparallelsparallelingparallelling[UK nonstandard]paralleledparalleledparallelled[UK nonstandard]parallelled[UK nonstandard]

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