parallel

Etymology

Definitions

1. 1

   Equally distant from one another at all points.

   • The horizontal lines on my notebook paper are parallel.
   • the instrument held with its plane roughly parallel to the equinoctial or celestial equato
2. 2

   Having the same overall direction

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

   • The two railway lines are parallel.
   • When honour runs parallel with the laws of God and our country, it cannot be too much cherished.
3. 3

   Either not intersecting, or coinciding.

4. ›+ 19 more definitionsshow fewer

   1. 4

      Involving the processing of multiple tasks at the same time.

      • a parallel algorithm
   2. 5

      Analogous, similar, comparable.

      • the parallel lives of two citizens
      • 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.
   3. 6

      Coexisting but normally not interacting with the regular reality.

      • parallel universe
   4. 7

      With a parallel relationship.

      • The road runs parallel to the canal.
   5. 8

      One of a set of parallel lines.

      • Who made the spider parallels design, / Sure as De Moivre, without rule or line?
   6. 9

      Direction conformable to that of another line.

      • lines that from their parallel decline
   7. 10

      A line of latitude.

      • The 31st parallel passes through the center of my town.
   8. 11

      An arrangement of electrical components such that a current flows along two or more paths

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

   9. 12

      Something identical or similar in essential respects.

      • None but thyself can be thy parallel.
   10. 13

       A comparison made

       A comparison made; elaborate tracing of similarity.

       • Johnson's parallel between Dryden and Pope
   11. 14

       One of a series of long trenches constructed before a besieged fortress, by the besieging…

       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.

   12. 15

       A character consisting of two parallel vertical lines, used in the text to direct…

       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.

   13. 16

       To construct or place something parallel to something else.

       • The needle […] doth parallel and place itself upon the true meridian.
   14. 17

       Of a path etc

       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.
       • Racing on, we parallel the M5 doing 95mph, according to the app on my smartphone.
   15. 18

       Of a process etc

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

   16. 19

       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.
   17. 20

       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: […]
   18. 21

       To equal

       To equal; to match; to correspond to.

       • He will ſteale ſir an Egge out of a Cloiſter: for rapes and rauiſhments he paralels Neſſus.
   19. 22

       To produce or adduce as a parallel.

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

The neighborhood

• antonymantiparallel
• antonymperpendicular
• antonymskew
• neighborparallax
• neighborsequential
• neighbor∥