- present participle of part.
parting
Americannoun
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the act of a person or thing that parts.
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a division or separation.
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a place of division or separation.
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a departure or leave-taking.
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something that serves to part or separate things.
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Mineralogy. a fracture of a crystal along a plane determined by twinning or pressure rather than along a cleavage plane.
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Metallurgy. parting line.
adjective
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given, happening, taken, done, etc., at parting.
a parting glance.
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of or relating to parting, leave-taking, departure, or death.
parting words.
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ending or taking leave.
the parting day.
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dividing or separating.
noun
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US, Canadian, and Austral equivalent: part. the line of scalp showing when sections of hair are combed in opposite directions
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the act of separating or the state of being separated
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a departure or leave-taking, esp one causing a final separation
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( as modifier )
a parting embrace
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a place or line of separation or division
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chem a division of a crystal along a plane that is not a cleavage plane
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a euphemism for death
adjective
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literary departing
the parting day
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serving to divide or separate
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of parting
1250–1300; Middle English partyng (gerund). See part, -ing 1, -ing 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rea also wrote the score and title track for the Soft Top Hard Shoulder film and starred in the comedy Parting Shots in 1999.
From BBC • Dec. 22, 2025
In 2019, he launched a revamped version of his business, dubbed Parting Stone.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 6, 2025
For his part, Kennedy may have left the meeting in a “cold fury” after being “knocked off balance,” as Taylor Branch suggested in his landmark study, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–1963.
From Slate • Aug. 18, 2025
Parting with Wiseman brought back Gary Payton II, but the backcourt stopper appeared in just seven games for Golden State after recovering from an adductor injury.
From Washington Post • Apr. 15, 2023
Parting was not, as I had heard one of Mr. Shakespeare's characters say, a sweet sorrow.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
