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:
Kering is parting ways with Balenciaga creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli after less than 18 months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 5, 2026
These see hackers use approaches such as phishing to trick people into parting with sensitive or personal details, that can then be used to try and access their accounts.
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
In a 2022 video titled “We Just Sold Our House. I Was Not Ready To Feel This,” Robbins discussed the emotional experience of parting with the family home after 24 years.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 3, 2026
On the morning Holmes is due to report to prison, Fielder arrives with a parting gag gift: hair dye and glasses, in case she’d prefer to disguise herself and flee the country.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
When his absent mind returned, they walked down to the water, both sad to be parting.
From "Abel's Island" by William Steig
I now hope that cross-species friendships of such intensity do not end in permanent partings.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 4, 2022
In what has to be one of the most inevitable partings of the Premier League era, Steve Bruce lasted just 13 days after the Saudi Arabian-backed £305m takeover of the club.
From BBC ● Oct. 20, 2021
Wide-leg trousers, berets, high necklines and centre partings.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 8, 2019
Its story, held between the arbitrary-seeming brackets of electoral victory and pop-star overdose, is inchoate, and beguilingly so: a series of meetings and partings, a fluctuation of perceptions, emotions, and desires.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 24, 2018
The neat partings in their hair, the clicks of their heels, the confident swagger they had.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
