EnglishMain Dictionary
parallel
Universal Words
adjective, noun, verb
adjective
1 ~ (to / with sth) two or more lines that are parallel to each other are the same distance apart at every point:
parallel lines * The road and the canal are parallel to each other.
2 very similar or taking place at the same time:
a parallel career / case / development * parallel trends
3 (computing) involving several computer operations at the same time:
parallel processing
parallel adverb:
The road and the canal run parallel to each other. * The plane flew parallel to the coast.
noun
1 [C,U] a person, a situation, an event, etc. that is very similar to another, especially one in a different place or time
SYNEQUIVALENT:
These ideas have parallels in Freud's thought too. * This is an achievement without parallel in modern times. * This tradition has no parallel in our culture.
2 [C,usually pl.] similar features:
There are interesting parallels between the 1960s and the late 1990s. * It is possible to draw a parallel between (= find similar features in) their experience and ours.
3 (also parallel of latitude) [C] an imaginary line around the earth that is always the same distance from the EQUATOR; this line on a map:
the 49th parallel
IDIOMS
in parallel (with sth/sb) with and at the same time as sth/sb else:
The new degree and the existing certificate courses would run in parallel. * Ann wanted to pursue her own career in parallel with her husband's.
verb [VN] (written)
1 to be similar to sth; to happen at the same time as sth:
Their legal system parallels our own. * The rise in unemployment is paralleled by an increase in petty crime.
2 to be as good as sth:
a level of achievement that has never been paralleled
compareUNPARALLELED
