parse

American  

[pahrs, pahrz] / pɑrs, pɑrz /

verb (used with object)

parses, present (3rd person singular) parsed, past participle, past parsing present participle

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)

parses, present (3rd person singular) parsed, past participle, past parsing present participle

1. to be able to be parsed; lend itself to parsing.

   Sorry, but your concluding paragraph simply doesn't parse.

parse British  

/ pɑːz /

verb

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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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• parser
  noun
• parsing
  noun
• parsable
  adjective
• unparsed
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• parsing
  present
• parsed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• parse
  simple
• parses
  simple
• have parsed
  perfect
• has parsed
  perfect
• am parsing
  progressive
• are parsing
  progressive
• is parsing
  progressive
• have been parsing
  perfect progressive
• has been parsing
  perfect progressive

Past

• parsed
  simple
• had parsed
  perfect
• was parsing
  progressive
• were parsing
  progressive
• had been parsing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will parse
  simple
• will have parsed
  perfect
• will be parsing
  progressive
• will have been parsing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of parse

First recorded in 1545–55; from Latin pars “part,” as in pars ōrātiōnis “part of speech”

Explanation

When you parse a sentence, you break it into parts and analyze each element carefully. When your sweetheart shouts "You never listen!" it's a bad idea to parse that by replying, "I just heard you, so I must be listening." The ability to successfully parse language is important. A binding legal contract, for example, should be read very carefully so you know exactly what's going on. You can also parse things that are more personal. You might exhaustively parse the comments of the guy you have a desperate crush on for any hint that he shares your passionate feelings. The sad truth of the matter? If you have to parse, he probably doesn't love you. Apply your parsing skills elsewhere!

Example Sentences

And it might not be easy to parse out which employees would be best suited for these products.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 26, 2026

If a formal agreement is announced this shortened-trading week, investors will be eager to parse the details–especially around the Strait of Hormuz and how quickly it can be fully reopened to maritime traffic.

From Barron's • Jun. 14, 2026

The economic effects of this are difficult to parse.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026

I’ll give you a minute to parse that jumble of words …

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026

If the left branch is slender enough, it is generally understandable, albeit top-heavy, with all those words to parse before one arrives at the payoff.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Related Words

• audit
• check
• check out
• consider
• criticize
• delve into
• explore
• inspect
• investigate
• ponder
• pore over
• probe
• read
• research
• review
• scan
• screen
• scrutinize
• study
• survey