- present participle of part.
parting
Americannoun
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partings
plural
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the act of a person or thing that parts.
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a division or separation.
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a place of division or separation.
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a departure or leave-taking.
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something that serves to part or separate things.
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Mineralogy. a fracture of a crystal along a plane determined by twinning or pressure rather than along a cleavage plane.
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Metallurgy. parting line.
adjective
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given, happening, taken, done, etc., at parting.
a parting glance.
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of or relating to parting, leave-taking, departure, or death.
parting words.
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ending or taking leave.
the parting day.
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dividing or separating.
noun
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US, Canadian, and Austral equivalent: part. the line of scalp showing when sections of hair are combed in opposite directions
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the act of separating or the state of being separated
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a departure or leave-taking, esp one causing a final separation
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( as modifier )
a parting embrace
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a place or line of separation or division
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chem a division of a crystal along a plane that is not a cleavage plane
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a euphemism for death
adjective
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literary departing
the parting day
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serving to divide or separate
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of parting
1250–1300; Middle English partyng (gerund). See part, -ing 1, -ing 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The conclusion was to banish Hesmondhalgh, who, in her parting words, said it had been an "immense experience".
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Fox announced last month that it was parting ways with Bartiromo after more than 12 years.
From Salon ● Oct. 4, 2026
Instead, Iamaleava is remembered for his tumultuous exit from Knoxville, a parting characterized by head coach Josh Heupel that the program would move on without its starting signal-caller, leading the Long Beach product to UCLA.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Then there was the mystery about why the $52 billion defense contractor was parting ways with the veteran defense executive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
With a parting glance at the Hixby’s Guide—did Penelope imagine it, or was it a longing, greedy, covetous sort of glance?—he left.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
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Don't forget your hairline and any partings to protect your scalp.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
I now hope that cross-species friendships of such intensity do not end in permanent partings.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 4, 2022
Its story, held between the arbitrary-seeming brackets of electoral victory and pop-star overdose, is inchoate, and beguilingly so: a series of meetings and partings, a fluctuation of perceptions, emotions, and desires.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 24, 2018
Her catalog of hairstyles, including Afros and undercuts along with more classically Western fades, lines and partings, was designed for a generation of expressive Britons who refuse to be groomed in a binary fashion.
From New York Times ● Mar. 20, 2018
The neat partings in their hair, the clicks of their heels, the confident swagger they had.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.