- present participle of part.
parting
Americannoun
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partings
plural
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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.
See Examples For:
“She’s All That” star Tamara Mello and her husband, Emmy Award-winning TV editor Paolo Cascardo, are parting ways with their thoughtfully restored Los Angeles home—as they prepare to relocate across the country to Florida.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
The movie ends with Hana and Kip parting because his job takes him to other areas of the country.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
After parting ways with Wilde, I drove 50 miles to meet Steven Weinberg, an artist and the author of “The Fly Fishing Book,” a whimsically illustrated guide to the sport.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
But the mom’s parting gift, a diary, provides opaque glimpses into her life with Alfonso in the mid-1980s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
As I said it, I hoped with every inch of me that this wouldn’t be a parting gift.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
To stand out, he suggests using glitter in hair partings or your shoulders.
From BBC ● Jul. 30, 2026
I now hope that cross-species friendships of such intensity do not end in permanent partings.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 4, 2022
“But life, of course, consists of final partings as well as first meetings,” she said, “and as much as I and my family miss him, I know he would want us to enjoy Christmas.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 25, 2021
The partings are only temporary, at Wanenmacher’s anyway.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 7, 2019
The neat partings in their hair, the clicks of their heels, the confident swagger they had.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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.
