parallel

adjective paralell

1. not comparable Equally distant from one another at all points. The horizontal lines on my notebook paper are parallel.
2. not comparable Having the same overall direction; the comparison is indicated with "to". The two railway lines are parallel.
3. excessive, not comparable, said of a pair of lines Either not intersecting, or coinciding.

   Opposite: perpendicular, skew

4. not comparable Involving the processing of multiple tasks at the same time. a parallel algorithm

   Opposite: serial, sequential

5. figuratively, not comparable Analogous, similar, comparable. the parallel lives of two citizens
6. not comparable, usually, of realities Coexisting but normally not interacting with the regular reality. parallel universe

Opposite: antiparallel, perpendicular, skew

adverb more parallel · most parallel · paralell

1. With a parallel relationship. The road runs parallel to the canal.

noun parallels · paralell

1. One of a set of parallel lines. Who made the spider parallels design, / Sure as De Moivre, without rule or line?
2. Direction conformable to that of another line. lines that from their parallel decline
3. A line of latitude. The 31st parallel passes through the center of my town.
4. An arrangement of electrical components such that a current flows along two or more paths; see in parallel.
5. Something identical or similar in essential respects. It has also been suggested that environmental crimes might include the proposed crime of ‘ecocide’ or ‘geocide’, with proponents of this view attempting to draw parallels between destructive acts towards the environment and those against the qualifying groups for genocide. […] [M]any who advocate fo
6. A comparison made; elaborate tracing of similarity. Johnson's parallel between Dryden and Pope
7. One of a series of long trenches constructed before a besieged fortress, by the besieging force, as a cover for troops supporting the attacking batteries. They are roughly parallel to the line of outer defenses of the fortress.
8. A character consisting of two parallel vertical lines, used in the text to direct attention to a similarly marked note in the margin or at the foot of a page.

verb parallels · paralleling · parallelling[UK nonstandard] · paralleled · parallelled[UK nonstandard]

1. To construct or place something parallel to something else. The needle […] doth parallel and place itself upon the true meridian.
2. Of a path etc: To be parallel to something else. Archaic covered bridges lingered fearsomely out of the past in pockets of the hills, and the half-abandoned railway track paralleling the river seemed to exhale a nebulously visible air of desolation.
3. Of a process etc: To be analogous to something else.
4. To compare or liken something to something else. Although its spokesmen do not hesitate to parallel their oppression to that of blacks, the gay male community has chosen to ignore the voices of black gay men.
5. To make to conform to something else in character, motive, aim, etc. [H]is life is paralel’d / Euen with the ſtroke and line of his great Iuſtice: […]
6. To equal; to match; to correspond to. He will ſteale ſir an Egge out of a Cloiſter: for rapes and rauiſhments he paralels Neſſus.
7. To produce or adduce as a parallel. Macb[eth]. ’Twas a rough Night. / Lenox. My young remembrance cannot paralell / A fellow to it.