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• par
  par

  noun
• par-
  par-

  variant of para- before a vowel.
• par.
  par.

  abbreviation

  paragraph.
• Par.
  Par.

  abbreviation

  Paraguay

par

¹ American  

[pahr] / pɑr /

noun

pars plural

1. Finance.

   1. the legally established value of the monetary unit of one country in terms of that of another using the same metal as a standard of value.

   2. the state of the shares of any business, undertaking, loan, etc., when they may be purchased at the original price issue par or at their face value nominal par.

2. an equality in value or standing; a level of equality.

   The gains and the losses are on a par.

3. an average, usual, or normal amount, degree, quality, condition, standard, or the like.

   above par;

   to feel below par.

4. Golf. the number of strokes set as a standard for a specific hole or a complete course.

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adjective

1. average or normal.

2. Finance. at or pertaining to par.

   the par value of a bond.

verb (used with object)

parred, parring

1. Golf. to equal par on (a hole or course).

idioms

1. at par, (of a share) purchasable at issue par or nominal par.

2. par for the course, exactly what one might expect; predictable; typical.

   They were late again, but that's par for the course.

par ² American  

[pahr] / pɑr /

adjective

Insurance.

1. of or relating to participating insurance.

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par- ³ American  

1. variant of para- before a vowel.

   parenchyma.

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par. ⁴ American  

abbreviation

1. paragraph.

2. parallel.

3. parenthesis.

4. parish.

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par ¹ British  

/ pɑː /

noun

1. an accepted level or standard, such as an average (esp in the phrase up to par )

2. a state of equality (esp in the phrase on a par with )

3. finance the established value of the unit of one national currency in terms of the unit of another where both are based on the same metal standard

4. commerce

   1. See par value

   2. the condition of equality between the current market value of a share, bond, etc, and its face value (the nominal par ). This equality is indicated by at par, while above ( or below ) par indicates that the market value is above (or below) face value

5. golf an estimated standard score for a hole or course that a good player should make

   par for the course was 72

6. not feeling or performing as well as normal

7. an expected or normal occurrence or situation

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adjective

1. average or normal

2. (usually prenominal) commerce of or relating to par

   par value

par. ² British  

abbreviation

1. paragraph

2. parenthesis

3. parish

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Par. ³ British  

abbreviation

1. Paraguay

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par- ⁴ British  

prefix

1. a variant of para- 1

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par More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing par

• below par
• on a par with
• up to par

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pars
  plural

Etymology

Origin of par¹

First recorded in 1600–10; from Latin pār “matching, equal”

Origin of par²

Shortening of participating

Explanation

In golf, par is the average number of times an excellent player needs to hit the ball, either for one particular hole or for the entire course. You might describe the fourth hole, for example, as being par five. If a golf course is par sixteen, it takes a really good golfer about sixteen strokes to get her ball into the final hole. From the sports meaning of par, it's come to also mean "average" or "equivalent," especially in phrases like "under par," or "worse than expected," and "par for the course," or "what is normal given the circumstances." This definition actually came first, in the form of the Latin par, "equal."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

par par- par. Par. pars parred parring

That was about on par with megabanks’ 13% jump.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

Agnes said she switched from oil to gas in recent years as it was cheaper but "now it's on par".

From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026

He casts himself as a problem-solver and negotiator par excellence.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026

Whatever the specific causes of death, this was a mass casualty event, on par with the earthquakes that hit Venezuela a few weeks ago.

From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026

They weren’t particularly good-looking teeth, but that was par for the course during this time period.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

But when par- or blind-baking, not every type of crust needs to be docked.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2022

Docking can be called for in recipes where par- or blind-baking the crust is required.

From Washington Post ● Jun. 3, 2022

We need to par- ticipate, and we need to be heard.

From MSNBC ● Sep. 9, 2014

But if the individual par- ticipants in the  boom went unnoticed, their impact  did not.

From MSNBC ● Jun. 4, 2014

It must be true because Uncle Herman use to sleep in our house all the time when he was out of werk on the old sofa in the par- ler.

From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

“Firstly, we bowled and fielded well. We thought they were par. … De Leede’s innings was awesome, just needed someone to be with him.”

From Washington Times ● Oct. 6, 2023

“You still had guys shooting way over par. I think that just shows how good of a course this is, how it rewards good golf and bad golf still gets penalized.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2023

“This course is really tough, so hit the fairway and hit the greens, make a par. Birdie or par.”

From Seattle Times ● May 12, 2022

"When an enemy starts to act irrationally, you need to make sure the defences of your own country are up to par. In the Canadian Arctic, that's a problem - we haven't done enough."

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2022

Lessons 1 and 2 Notes on Bayonet Training   1.30-3.30 p.m. pars. 101-158 I.D.R. pgs. 7-88 M.G.D. 7.00-9.00 p.m. par. 159-174 I.D.R. pgs. 47-88 M.G.D.

From Military Instructors Manual by Schoonmaker, Oliver

To these we can only reply that, if it is not implied by Par., viii.

From Dante: His Times and His Work by Butler, Arthur John

This lady was named Gualdrada, and he took her for her Par. xvi. 94-99.

From Villani's Chronicle Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani by Villani, Giovanni

Charles Martel was Par. viii. 64-66. crowned king of Hungary.

From Villani's Chronicle Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani by Villani, Giovanni

And after him, in the month of September following, Cardinal Piero Spagnuolo was elected Pope, which was called Pope John Par. xii.

From Villani's Chronicle Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani by Villani, Giovanni

For "Ind. Par. i. 543.," read "Ind. Par. i 343."

From Notes and Queries, Number 61, December 28, 1850 by Various

He had three birdies and six pars on the back nine for a 68 in the second round to get to even par and was among 51 in the 72-player field to make the cut.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026

Jeeno, the defending champion, reeled off nine birdies and nine pars in a flawless second round at Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida, to move to 14 under at the halfway stage.

From Barron's ● Nov. 21, 2025

Volatility matters too—because of the format, a player who birdies half the holes and bogeys the other half can be more valuable than someone who cards 18 pars.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2025

However, she was unable to build any real momentum during her opening round and some solid putting for pars and bogeys prevented irretrievable damage to her tournament chances.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2025

Then he used his frontalis, pars lateralis, to raise the outer half of his eyebrows.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell

Making his tournament debut, Bridgeman carded four birdies on the back nine, the last at No. 17, to pull even with McIlroy at five under and parred the 18th.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 19, 2026

When play resumed, Korda had a three-stroke lead over South Korea's Amy Yang, who parred 17 and 18 on Sunday to seize second on 206 with a closing 69.

From Barron's ● Feb. 1, 2026

Mitchell parred the first five holes but got better as the day wore on with a run of four straight birdies coming towards the end of his round.

From BBC ● May 8, 2025

DeChambeau, who started the day two back, parred the first hole to forge the tie.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2025

Parred, quotes “ȝe are parred in . . . ȝe are so spered in.”

From The Lay of Havelok the Dane by Unknown

After parring the first hole, Song bogeyed the second and birdied the third, but found herself down three shots to Cleveland’s Momoka Takahashi, who birdied the first three holes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 7, 2024

Exhibit A: Jim Furyk After parring the 18th hole, Pampling was just hoping his score would get him into a playoff.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 22, 2021

When it was Spieth’s turn, he started slowly, making a birdie on the first hole but then parring the next three holes before making birdies at Nos.

From New York Times ● Jul. 19, 2015

He hit every fairway after that, picking up that crucial birdie at No. 14 and parring his way home.

From Washington Times ● Jul. 18, 2014

Woods wasn't in a good spot, but he had a shot and he wound up parring the hole to secure his third straight major championship on his way to the Tiger Slam.

From Golf Digest ● Oct. 16, 2013