parallel (parallels plural & 3rd person present) (parallelling present participle) (parallelled past tense & past participle )
in AM, use paralleling, paralleled
1 n-count If something has a parallel, it is similar to something else, but exists or happens in a different place or at a different time. If it has no parallel or is without parallel, it is not similar to anything else.
Readers familiar with English history will find a vague parallel to the suppression of the monasteries...
2 n-count If there are parallels between two things, they are similar in some ways.
Detailed study of folk music from a variety of countries reveals many close parallels...
3 verb If one thing parallels another, they happen at the same time or are similar, and often seem to be connected.
(=echo)
Often there are emotional reasons paralleling the financial ones... V n
4 adj Parallel events or situations happen at the same time as one another, or are similar to one another.
...parallel talks between the two countries' Foreign Ministers...
5 adj If two lines, two objects, or two lines of movement are parallel, they are the same distance apart along their whole length.
...seventy-two ships, drawn up in two parallel lines...
6 n-count A parallel is an imaginary line round the earth that is parallel to the equator. Parallels are shown on maps.
...the area south of the 38th parallel.
7 Something that occurs in parallel with something else occurs at the same time as it.
♦
in parallel phrase
Davies has managed to pursue his diverse interests in parallel with his fast-moving career...