| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| parry |
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| SYLLABICATION: | par·ry |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  p r  |
| VERB: | Inflected forms: par·ried, par·ry·ing, par·ries
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To deflect or ward off (a fencing thrust, for example). 2. To deflect, evade, or avoid: He skillfully parried the question with a clever reply. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | To deflect or ward off a thrust or blow. | | NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. par·ries
1. The deflecting or warding off of a thrust or blow, as in fencing. 2. An evasive answer or action. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Probably from French parez, imperative of parer, to defend, from Italian parare, from Latin par re, to prepare. See per -1 in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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