Library / English Dictionary

PARALLEL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: parallelled    , parallelling   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Something having the property of being analogous to something else

Synonyms:

analog; analogue; parallel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

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

Synonyms:

latitude; line of latitude; parallel; parallel of latitude

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

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)

Example:

parallels never meet

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

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)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Being everywhere equidistant and not intersecting

Example:

dancers in two parallel rows

Classified under:

Adjectives

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

Example:

parallel processing

Classified under:

Adjectives

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)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make or place parallel to something

Example:

They paralleled the ditch to the highway

Synonyms:

collimate; parallel

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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 2

Meaning:

Be parallel to

Example:

Their roles are paralleled by ours

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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 3

Meaning:

Duplicate or match

Example:

The polished surface twinned his face and chest in reverse

Synonyms:

duplicate; parallel; twin

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

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

Credits

 Context examples: 

The long axis of a lesion parallels the skin line ('wider-than-tall' or in a horizontal orientation).

(Parallel Lesion, NCI Thesaurus/DICOM)

Sure enough, smaller tracks of the same general form were running parallel to the large ones.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Pertaining to a plane containing a line parallel to the long axis of the subject's body and in addition presenting anterior and posterior views on each side of it.

(Coronal Plane, NCI Thesaurus)

The most striking feature is the arrangement of the lesions such that the long axis is parallel to the lines of cleavage.

(Pityriasis Rosea, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Activated caspase 8 stimulates apoptosis via two parallel cascades: it directly cleaves and activates caspase-3, and it cleaves Bid (a Bcl-2 family protein).

(DR3 and DR4/5 Mediated Apoptosis Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

The R-groups (side chains) of neighbouring residues in a b-strand point in opposite directions; beta sheets can be parallel, anti-parallel or mixed.

(Beta Sheet, NCI Thesaurus)

Participants are assigned to one of two or more arms in parallel for the duration of the study.

(Parallel Study, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

Majority of glands are parallel to the mucosal surface with complex branching patterns.

(Flat Tubular Adenoma of the Mouse Intestinal Tract, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

A quadrilateral whose opposite sides are both parallel and equal in length.

(Parallelogram, NCI Thesaurus)

In developing rat neurons, we found that Shank 2 and 3 accumulate at synapses in parallel with a switch to mature AMPARs.

(Zinc Deficiency during Pregnancy Linked to Autism in Babies, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)