parole

¹ American  

[puh-rohl] / pəˈroʊl /

noun

1. Penology.

   1. the conditional release of a person from prison prior to the end of the maximum sentence imposed.

   2. such release or its duration.

   3. an official document authorizing such a release.

2. Military.

   1. the promise, usually written, of a prisoner of war, that if released they either will return to custody at a specified time or will not again take up arms against their captors.

   2. (formerly) any password given by authorized personnel in passing by a guard.

3. word of honor given or pledged.

4. (in U.S. immigration laws) the temporary admission of non-U.S. citizens into the United States for emergency reasons or on grounds considered in the public interest, as authorized by and at the discretion of the attorney general.

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verb (used with object)

paroled, paroling

1. to place or release on parole.

2. to admit (a non-U.S. citizen) into the United States for emergency reasons or on grounds considered in the public interest.

   An increased number of Hungarian refugees were paroled into the United States.

adjective

1. of or relating to parole or parolees.

   a parole record.

parole ² American  

[pa-rawl] / paˈrɔl /

noun

French.

1. language as manifested in the actual utterances produced by speakers of a language (langue ).

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parole British  

/ pəˈrəʊl, pəˌrəʊˈliː /

noun

1. 1. the freeing of a prisoner before his sentence has expired, on the condition that he is of good behaviour

   2. the duration of such conditional release

2. a promise given by a prisoner, as to be of good behaviour if granted liberty or partial liberty

3. a variant spelling of parol

4. military a password

5. linguistics language as manifested in the individual speech acts of particular speakers Compare langue performance competence

6. 1. conditionally released from detention

   2. informal (of a person) under scrutiny, esp for a recurrence of an earlier shortcoming

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verb

1. to place (a person) on parole

Other Word Forms

• parolable adjective
• parolee noun
• unparolable adjective
• unparoled adjective

Etymology

Origin of parole

First recorded in 1610–20; from Middle French, short for parole d'honneur “word of honor”. See parol

Example Sentences

On Monday, the pair were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

From Los Angeles Times

Compensation for a sports trader at Susquehanna International Group starts at around $90,000 a year, according to people familiar with the matter, roughly on par with a parole officer in nearby Philadelphia.

From The Wall Street Journal

Some of those who weren’t issued humanitarian parole but released into the U.S.—including more than 500,000 Cubans, according to advocacy groups—were issued a form, the I-220A.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Daily Mirror reported that James Bulger's family had been informed of the upcoming parole hearing, which it said was expected to take place next month.

From BBC

Williams, who is now 39 years old, first became eligible for youth offender parole in September 2024, at which time the Parole Board deemed him a threat to public safety and unsuitable for release.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• let out
• liberate
• pardon