| English Dictionary |
PARALLEL (parallelled, parallelling)
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
| IPA (US): |  |
, parallelling Dictionary entry overview: What does parallel mean?
• PARALLEL (noun)
The noun PARALLEL has 3 senses:
1. something having the property of being analogous to something else
2. an imaginary line around the Earth parallel to the equator
3. (mathematics) one of a set of parallel geometric figures (parallel lines or planes)
Familiarity information: PARALLEL used as a noun is uncommon.
• PARALLEL (adjective)
The adjective PARALLEL has 2 senses:
1. being everywhere equidistant and not intersecting
2. of or relating to the simultaneous performance of multiple operations
Familiarity information: PARALLEL used as an adjective is rare.
• PARALLEL (verb)
The verb PARALLEL has 3 senses:
1. be parallel to
2. make or place parallel to something
3. duplicate or match
Familiarity information: PARALLEL used as a verb is uncommon.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Something having the property of being analogous to something else
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Synonyms:
Hypernyms ("parallel" is a kind of...):
similarity (the quality of being similar)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "parallel"):
echo (a close parallel of a feeling, idea, style, etc.)
Derivation:
parallel (be parallel to)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An imaginary line around the Earth parallel to the equator
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Synonyms:
latitude; line of latitude; parallel; parallel of latitude
Hypernyms ("parallel" is a kind of...):
line (a spatial location defined by a real or imaginary unidimensional extent)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "parallel"):
polar circle (a line of latitude at the north or south poles)
horse latitude (either of two belts or regions near 30 degrees north or 30 degrees south; characterized by calms and light-baffling winds)
tropic (either of two parallels of latitude about 23.5 degrees to the north and south of the equator representing the points farthest north and south at which the sun can shine directly overhead and constituting the boundaries of the Torrid Zone or tropics)
Sense 3
Meaning:
(mathematics) one of a set of parallel geometric figures (parallel lines or planes)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes
Context example:
parallels never meet
Hypernyms ("parallel" is a kind of...):
figure (a combination of points and lines and planes that form a visible palpable shape)
Domain category:
math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Being everywhere equidistant and not intersecting
Context example:
dancers in two parallel rows
Similar:
antiparallel ((especially of vectors) parallel but oppositely directed)
collateral (situated or running side by side)
nonconvergent; nonintersecting ((of lines, planes, or surfaces) never meeting or crossing)
Also:
comparable (able to be compared or worthy of comparison)
symmetric; symmetrical (having similarity in size, shape, and relative position of corresponding parts)
Antonym:
oblique (slanting or inclined in direction or course or position--neither parallel nor perpendicular nor right-angled)
perpendicular (intersecting at or forming right angles)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Of or relating to the simultaneous performance of multiple operations
Context example:
parallel processing
Similar:
synchronal; synchronic; synchronous (occurring or existing at the same time or having the same period or phase)
Domain category:
computer science; computing (the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures)
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it parallels Past simple: paralleled
/ parallelled Past participle: paralleled
/ parallelled -ing form: paralleling
/ parallelling Sense 1
Meaning:
Be parallel to
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Context example:
Their roles are paralleled by ours
Hypernyms (to "parallel" is one way to...):
agree; check; correspond; fit; gibe; jibe; match; tally (be compatible, similar or consistent; coincide in their characteristics)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Derivation:
parallel (something having the property of being analogous to something else)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Make or place parallel to something
Classified under:
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.
Synonyms:
collimate; parallel
Context example:
They paralleled the ditch to the highway
Hypernyms (to "parallel" is one way to...):
alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 3
Meaning:
Duplicate or match
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Synonyms:
Context example:
The polished surface twinned his face and chest in reverse
Hypernyms (to "parallel" is one way to...):
agree; check; correspond; fit; gibe; jibe; match; tally (be compatible, similar or consistent; coincide in their characteristics)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Context examples
The Muscle Spindle is composed of intrafusal fibers that are located within and run parallel to the extrafusal fibers of skeletal muscle.
(Muscle Spindle, NCI Thesaurus)
Two or more interventions, each alone and in combination, are evaluated in parallel against a control group.
(Factorial Study, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)
Having no previous example or precedent or parallel; of a kind not seen before.
(New, NCI Thesaurus)
The boat sheered out with a rush, and the hunter steadied it to a parallel course some twenty feet from the side of the Ghost.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Ten steps with each foot took me along parallel with the wall of the house, and again I marked my spot with a peg.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The vein that runs parallel to the anterior tibial artery and empties into the popliteal vein.
(Anterior Tibial Vein, NCI Thesaurus)
A program that compares a sequence to a database of known parallel two-stranded coiled-coils and derives a similarity score.
(COILS Program, NCI Thesaurus)
Parallel to or in the plane of the horizon.
(Horizontal, NCI Thesaurus)
It was brought parallel to me, as I lay.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
An indication that the long axis of a lesion runs parallel to the skin.
(Parallel Lesion, NCI Thesaurus)
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