parallel

/ˈpæ.ɹəˌlɛl/

noun 8
verb 7
adjective 6
adverb 1
forms 9

noun8

•
One of a set of parallel lines.
- Who made the spider parallels design, / Sure as De Moivre, without rule or line? — 1733
•
Something identical or similar in essential respects.
- None but thyself can be thy parallel. — 1728
•
A line of latitude.
- The 31st parallel passes through the center of my town.
•
A comparison made; elaborate tracing of similarity.
- Johnson's parallel between Dryden and Pope
An arrangement of electrical components such that a current flows along two or more paths; see in parallel.
Direction conformable to that of another line.
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.
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.

verb7

•
Of a path etc: To be parallel to something else.
- 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. — 1931
Of a process etc: To be analogous to something else.
•
To equal; to match; to correspond to.
- He will steale sir an Egge out of a Cloister: for rapes and rauishments he paralels Nessus. — 1604
•
To compare or liken something to something else.
- 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. — 1984
•
To produce or adduce as a parallel.
- Macb[eth]. ’Twas a rough Night. / Lenox. My young remembrance cannot paralell / A fellow to it. — 1606
•
To construct or place something parallel to something else.
- The needle […] doth parallel and place itself upon the true meridian. — 1650
•
To make to conform to something else in character, motive, aim, etc.
- [H]is life is paralel’d / Euen with the stroke and line of his great Iustice: […] — 1603

adjective6

•
Equally distant from one another at all points.
- The horizontal lines on my notebook paper are parallel.
•
Having the same overall direction; the comparison is indicated with "to".
- The two railway lines are parallel.
Either not intersecting, or coinciding.
•
(figurative) Analogous, similar, comparable.
- the parallel lives of two citizens
Coexisting but normally not interacting with the regular reality.
Involving the processing of multiple tasks at the same time.

adverb1

•
With a parallel relationship.
- The road runs parallel to the canal.

forms

paralleled · parallelled · parallelled[UK nonstandard] · paralleling · parallelling · parallelling[UK nonstandard] · parallels · more parallel · most parallel