parry

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“
They pointed, withdrew, and were on guard again with the precision of piston-rods Now watch me, for your life may depend upon it," and the corporal proceeded to give them the low parry which is useful when you are taking trenches and find a chevaux-de-frise of the enemy's bayonets confronting you.

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Definitions (17)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. transitive verb To deflect or ward off (a fencing thrust, for example).
  2. transitive verb To deflect, evade, or avoid: He skillfully parried the question with a clever reply.
  3. intransitive verb To deflect or ward off a thrust or blow.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (5)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • Aydrian continued to dodge and to parry, and to back away when necessary, but then he gave another shrug, this one resigned, and accepted that he had to prove his style beyond any doubts. —  ASCENDANCE
  • The soldier recovered quickly enough to parry, his sword again coming down atop Kelsey's, driving the elf's blade harmlessly low. —  Spearwielder's Tale 3.htm
  • She wanted to enjoy the thrust and parry, the advance and retreat, of a surface relationship. —  The Benevent Treasure - Patricia Wentworth - Miss Silver 26: 1953
  • They fortify the means of thrust and parry, and, when saturation occurs, move underground. —  FIASCO - Stanislaw Lem
  • Before he could either strike or parry, the king's poniard sheathed itself in his throat, above the gorget, slanting downward into his heart. —  Conan -- The Stories from Weird Tales (1932-1936)
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same contextWord Family

parry:   parried
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Probably from French parez, imperative of parer, to defend, from Italian parare, from Latin parāre, to prepare; see perə-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Formerly parree; from OF. paree, preparation, ceremony, parade (= Italian parata, feminine, a defense), from Middle Latin parata, preparation, parade, feminine of L. paratus, past participle of parare, prepare, get ready, Middle Latin ward off, guard, defend, etc.: see pare. Cf. parade.
  2. from parry, n.
 

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/ˈpæri/
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