(parallels, parallelling, parallelled)
Note: in AM, use 'paralleling', 'paralleled'
1.
If something has a parallel, it is similar to something else, but exists or happens in a different place or at a different time. If it has no parallel or is without parallel, it is not similar to anything else.
Readers familiar with English history will find a vague parallel to the suppression of the monasteries...
It's an ecological disaster with no parallel anywhere else in the world.
N-COUNT
2.
If there are parallels between two things, they are similar in some ways.
Detailed study of folk music from a variety of countries reveals many close parallels...
Friends of the dead lawyer were quick to draw a parallel between the two murders.
N-COUNT: oft N between/to/with n
3.
If one thing parallels another, they happen at the same time or are similar, and often seem to be connected.
Often there are emotional reasons paralleling the financial ones...
His remarks paralleled those of the president.
= echo
VERB: V n, V n
4.
Parallel events or situations happen at the same time as one another, or are similar to one another.
...parallel talks between the two countries' Foreign Ministers...
Their instincts do not always run parallel with ours...
ADJ: oft ADJ with/to n
5.
If two lines, two objects, or two lines of movement are parallel, they are the same distance apart along their whole length.
...seventy-two ships, drawn up in two parallel lines...
Farthing Lane's just above the High Street and parallel with it...
ADJ: oft ADJ to/with n
6.
A parallel is an imaginary line round the earth that is parallel to the equator. Parallels are shown on maps.
...the area south of the 38th parallel.
N-COUNT: usu the ord N
7.
Something that occurs in parallel with something else occurs at the same time as it.
Davies has managed to pursue his diverse interests in parallel with his fast-moving career...
PHRASE: PHR after v, usu PHR with/to n