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parse

[pahrs, pahrz]
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verb (used with object), parsed, pars·ing.
  1. to analyze (a sentence) in terms of grammatical constituents, identifying the parts of speech, syntactic relations, etc.
  2. to describe (a word in a sentence) grammatically, identifying the part of speech, inflectional form, syntactic function, etc.
  3. to analyze (something, as a speech or behavior) to discover its implications or uncover a deeper meaning: Political columnists were in their glory, parsing the president's speech on the economy in minute detail.
  4. Computers. to analyze (a string of characters) in order to associate groups of characters with the syntactic units of the underlying grammar.
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verb (used without object), parsed, pars·ing.
  1. to be able to be parsed; lend itself to parsing: Sorry, but your concluding paragraph simply doesn't parse.
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Origin of parse

1545–55; < Latin pars part, as in pars ōrātiōnis part of speech
Related formspars·a·ble, adjectivepars·er, nounmis·parse, verb (used with object), mis·parsed, mis·pars·ing.un·parsed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for parse

translate, infer, interpret, define, parse, consider, scan, probe, scrutinize, check, ponder, review, research, read, screen, inspect, explore, audit, criticize, study
British Dictionary definitions for parse

parse

verb grammar
  1. to assign constituent structure to (a sentence or the words in a sentence)
  2. (intr) (of a word or linguistic element) to play a specified role in the structure of a sentence
  3. computing to analyse the source code of a computer program to make sure that it is structurally correct before it is compiled and turned into machine code
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Derived Formsparsable, adjectiveparsing, noun

Word Origin for parse

C16: from Latin pars (orātionis) part (of speech)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for parse

v.

1550s, "to state the parts of speech in a sentence," verb use of Middle English pars (n.) "part of speech" (c.1300), from Old French pars, plural of part "part," from Latin pars (see part (n.)) in school question, Quae pars orationis? "What part of speech?" Transferred (non-grammatical) use is from 1788. Pars was a common plural of part (n.) in early Middle English. Related: Parsed; parsing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper