parallel processing

British  

noun

1. the performance by a computer system of two or more simultaneous operations

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parallel processing Cultural  

1. The use of many different computer processors to work on different parts of a problem simultaneously. This is one way of increasing the speed at which computers can work, with each processor working on a part of a larger problem. (Compare serial processing.)

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The SETI project recently introduced a parallel processing system that allows individuals to use their personal computers to analyze data and assist in the search for extraterrestrial life.

Example Sentences

GPUs, with their parallel processing capabilities, could render vast swaths of pixels far better than central processing units, which can only carry out tasks sequentially.

From MarketWatch • May 23, 2026

Training favors highly parallel processing, much like rendering videogame graphics, which helps explain why the company whose chips powered 3-D shoot-’em-ups like Unreal Tournament back in 1999 came to dominate AI profits.

From Barron's • Mar. 13, 2026

The AI processing cabinets are jammed in together to eliminate this element of latency and create what the tech sector calls parallel processing, operating as one enormous computer.

From BBC • Sep. 22, 2025

"Such parallel processing in human brains has been hypothesized, but never observed before at a whole-brain level," Griffa summarizes.

From Science Daily • Dec. 18, 2023

Obstacles such as huge-scale parallel processing, exaenergy consumption, reliability, memory and storage—along with a lack of software to start running on such supercomputers—stood in the way of those standards.

From Scientific American • Feb. 9, 2023