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| Date: | 1600-1700 |
| Origin: | Probably from French parez! 'prepare!', from parer; PARE |
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Related topics: Weaponspar‧ry
past tense and past participle parried, present participle parrying, third person singular parries
past tense and past participle parried, present participle parrying, third person singular parries1PMW [intransitive and transitive] to defend yourself against someone who is attacking you by pushing their weapon or hand to one side [= deflect]: It is far easier to parry a direct blow than to stop it forcibly.
It is far easier to parry a direct blow than to stop it forcibly.2 [transitive] to avoid answering a question that is difficult to answer or that someone does not want to answer : He parried all her questions about his work.
He parried all her questions about his work. —parry noun [countable]
