How to Use parallel in a Sentence

parallel

1 of 3 adjective
Definition of parallelnext
Synonyms for parallelnext
  • These two sentences are parallel in structure.
  • Notice the parallel development of the two technologies.
  • Could a new rail line be built parallel to the freight tracks?
    — Steve Harrison, charlotteobserver, 27 Oct. 2017
  • Its body consists of a series of parallel tubes that form the wall of the bag.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 21 June 2019
  • While you’re at it, swing the dugouts out parallel with the foul lines.
    — Scott Ostler, SFChronicle.com, 17 June 2018
  • The left knee will be bent, the right heel is down, the right foot is parallel to the back of the mat.
    — Angela Peterson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 13 Mar. 2018
  • Bring it parallel with the water on one side of you and then the other.
    — Jesse Pearson, latimes.com, 11 July 2019
  • In a sit spin, the upper part of the leg not on the ice needs to be at least parallel to the ice.
    — Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 3 Feb. 2022
  • If the saw held true along the cut, that told us that its shoe edge and blade are parallel.
    — Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 9 July 2019
  • The show follows a group of kids and adults that battle the forces of a parallel universe.
    — Marianne Garvey, CNN, 15 Aug. 2022
  • Try to keep your back flat and parallel with the floor and hips square rather than tilted.
    — Jen Murphy, WSJ, 17 Oct. 2020
  • In this case, the cargo could be laid out in parallel or in a straight line.
    — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, 9 Oct. 2018
  • In this parallel world, lupine lore tells of a human child who will speak for the wolves.
    — Meghan Cox Gurdon, WSJ, 2 Sep. 2022
  • Then lift both knees until your shins are parallel to the floor.
    — Lauren Bedosky, Outside Online, 18 Nov. 2020
  • That line runs parallel to the Epcot spur for a stretch.
    — Dewayne Bevil, orlandosentinel.com, 26 Sep. 2019
  • My phone call was very parallel to Neal’s call back in the day.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 28 July 2023
  • Here is a parallel art world in which hope springs eternal.
    — New York Times, 23 May 2022
  • Spread out the hide, flesh-side up, and with your knife, slice holes parallel to the edge of the hide.
    — Tim MacWelch, Outdoor Life, 24 Dec. 2020
  • To try this trick, hold the flashlights upright, parallel to the wall.
    — Brigitt Earley, Good Housekeeping, 2 Sep. 2020
  • Your torso should be almost parallel to the floor, and the weights should reach your shins.
    — Jenny McCoy, SELF, 6 Nov. 2023
  • Then, lift your top leg up and down, keeping it parallel to the floor.
    — Leah Prinzivalli, SELF, 16 June 2018
  • Using your off hand to lift the hide and your knife hand to make cuts parallel to the meat, begin to peel away the hide.
    — Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 7 Sep. 2023
  • Push hips back and bend knees until thighs are nearly parallel to the floor.
    — Andi Breitowich, Women's Health, 26 July 2023
  • Lift your left leg until your quad is parallel to the ground, your knee bent.
    — Jenny McCoy, Outside Online, 18 Apr. 2022
  • Fold over at hips so that torso is nearly parallel to the floor.
    — Addison Aloian, Women's Health, 23 Aug. 2023
  • Bend your knees and lower your hips down until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
    — Rozalynn S. Frazier, Health.com, 1 Aug. 2019
  • Keep your chest up, bend your knees and push your hips back until the back of your thighs are parallel with the floor.
    — Kelly Dinardo, Star Tribune, 11 Sep. 2020
  • Raise your elbow so your upper arm is parallel to the ground.
    — Men's Health, 8 May 2023
  • Squeeze legs together and engage abs to lift bent legs so calves are parallel to the floor.
    — Jennifer Nied, Women's Health, 17 May 2023
  • Keep your back straight and your knees parallel to one another.
    — USA Today, 19 May 2020
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parallel

2 of 3 noun
  • These myths have some striking parallels with myths found in cultures around the world.
  • There are many parallels between the stories.
  • Most of the United States is south of the 49th parallel.
  • The video draws a parallel to the last year and a half in lockdown.
    — Daniela Avila, PEOPLE.com, 13 Aug. 2021
  • The more fibers working in parallel, the greater the force.
    — Rhett Allain, Wired, 7 Apr. 2021
  • Is there a parallel to be drawn to the erotic stories in the ?
    — Norman Vanamee, Town & Country, 16 Mar. 2020
  • Hold the file along the bevel but with the file’s edge parallel to the chisel.
    — Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 7 June 2023
  • And this part, there’s a rough parallel to the web, right?
    — Recode Staff, Recode, 17 July 2018
  • That thing where the car parallel parks itself for you.
    — River Clegg, The New Yorker, 13 Jan. 2023
  • Which has good things and bad things, but there are a lot of parallels.
    — Eric Johnson, Vox, 26 June 2019
  • At the convention, the cast and crew for the show spoke about how the show draws parallels with the present day.
    — Andrew Liptak, The Verge, 20 July 2019
  • Raise your arms outward to the sides until parallel to the floor.
    — Andi Breitowich, Women's Health, 11 May 2023
  • For all the rest of the cuts, insert your knife under the hide and cut parallel to the meat or away from the meat.
    — Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 7 Sep. 2023
  • Slice through the bottom of the meat with your knife parallel to the bone, angling straight down.
    — Katlyn Moncada, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Oct. 2022
  • Holding a sharp knife parallel to the beef, slice it in half width wise.
    — Claire Perez, Sun-Sentinel.com, 6 Oct. 2017
  • But all of them can—and in fact are—acting in parallel.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 10 May 2022
  • Each part of the data was taken parallel to the others.
    — Joshua Hawkins, BGR, 18 Aug. 2022
  • Well, there's a lot of parallels in the moments, the challenges.
    — Fox News, 17 May 2018
  • There's not an exact parallel in the way the right and the left seek out like-minded news sources.
    — Nicholas Kristof, Anchorage Daily News, 19 Feb. 2018
  • Place them above the knives and spoons, with your wine glasses roughly stacked parallel to the spoon.
    — Elise Taylor, Vogue, 19 Dec. 2022
  • The crystals rotate in parallel to let light pass through.
    — Scharon Harding, Ars Technica, 25 June 2022
  • Times and tastes change, but there are still some pretty big parallels.
    — James Grebey, GQ, 12 June 2018
  • The shift to video therapy is more than just a work-at-home parallel.
    — Annie Vainshtein, SFChronicle.com, 27 Mar. 2020
  • And these are the two that are sort of proceeding in parallel and are very likely to be combined.
    — Scott Nover, Quartz, 29 July 2022
  • But, other than the fact that the worlds come from the same mind, what other parallels do these two towns share?
    — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, 10 May 2019
  • Keeping your chest parallel to the ground, lift your right foot off the ground and drive right knee to touch your right elbow.
    — Brett Williams, Men's Health, 7 Dec. 2022
  • The parallel used to be home to prime hop-growing conditions.
    — Marc Bona, cleveland, 15 Nov. 2022
  • Each of these parallels sheds some light on our current predicament.
    — Masha Gessen, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2020
  • Tompkins didn't plan it that way — the parallels just fell into place.
    — Domenica Bongiovanni, Indianapolis Star, 24 Oct. 2019
  • There’s been no parallel to such efforts within the ranks of police unions.
    — Kate Aronoff, The New Republic, 11 June 2020
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parallel

3 of 3 verb
  • The highway parallels the river.
  • Spending is paralleled by an increase in the number of loans given.
  • Their test results parallel our own.
  • Rising prices parallel increasing fuel costs.
  • Pull it in, back it in, and find a place to parallel park the car.
    — Houston Chronicle, 9 Mar. 2018
  • The tiny sprouts in the foreground parallel the mature trees in the background to the left.
    — Danny Wilcox Frazier, Smithsonian, 21 Feb. 2018
  • Bend your knees to sit into a deep squat with your thighs parallel to the ground.
    — Elizabeth Narins, Cosmopolitan, 28 June 2016
  • But for that to translate to wins, the defense needs to parallel that.
    — Katherine Fitzgerald, The Arizona Republic, 14 Aug. 2020
  • But, of course, there are lots of things that aren't parallel.
    — John Timmer, Ars Technica, 17 Oct. 2023
  • Keep your head parallel to your arms and your spine elongated through the neck.
    — Hayden Carpenter, Outside Online, 9 Aug. 2019
  • Turn right again as the main trail swings around to parallel Plaza del Amo.
    — Charles Fleming, latimes.com, 14 June 2019
  • Bring tension to the tubes by stepping out and parallel to your anchor.
    — Jenny McCoy, SELF, 6 Feb. 2018
  • The control structure is a concrete weir that parallels the river for a mile and a half.
    — Littice Bacon-Blood, NOLA.com, 7 Mar. 2018
  • Kick the leg out directly in front of you, keeping it straight and parallel with a flexed foot.
    — Michelle Ward Trainor, PEOPLE.com, 14 Feb. 2018
  • Raise your arms to chest height with your palms parallel to each other (a).
    — Daily Burn, Health.com, 3 Oct. 2017
  • The entrance to the trails is a walk along a grassy path that parallels a hay field teeming with birds and butterflies.
    — Peter Marteka, courant.com, 28 June 2019
  • The campground paralleled a low canyon, the wall lifting abruptly up from a patch of tents and shiny camper vans.
    — Alli Harvey, Anchorage Daily News, 10 May 2018
  • City officials closed off a section of the public trail along the beach that parallels the tracks.
    — Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Apr. 2023
  • Place sheets of dough parallel to each other, aligning on a longer edge.
    — Nancy Stohs, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 29 Nov. 2019
  • Push your butt back and bend your knees to squat down to parallel (or the most comfortable depth for you) and pause for a beat.
    — Men's Health, 5 May 2023
  • His love of golf was paralleled only by his love of family.
    — courant.com, 23 June 2019
  • The attack-ad scene parallels one from the show’s pilot, in which the premise is introduced.
    — Niela Orr, New York Times, 29 Mar. 2023
  • Or the shiftless pool man whose slide into despair seems to parallel the fires and mudslides that are chewing up the hills around him.
    — Steve Marble, latimes.com, 24 Jan. 2018
  • Once thighs are about parallel with the floor, press through feet to return to standing position.
    — Andi Breitowich, Women's Health, 9 Mar. 2023
  • The trail follows an old wagon road paralleling the creek.
    — Roger Naylor, azcentral, 13 July 2018
  • Many of the maneuvers parallel those used in other cases.
    — Jonathan Lai, Philly.com, 8 Mar. 2018
  • The duo met on the course but quickly learned that their lives paralleled, and they were headed for self-destruction.
    — Gary Curreri, sun-sentinel.com, 18 July 2019
  • Its sprawling design parallels this city’s depth and grandeur.
    — Astrid Kayembe, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2023
  • What draws you to parallel worlds that aren’t at the forefront of design conversations?
    — Sarah Khan, ELLE Decor, 19 Jan. 2021
  • Anderson's work in the ring continues to parallel her fight outside of it.
    — Deaundra Allen, kansascity, 1 July 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'parallel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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