R. S. Anson
Did you know?
If parse brings up memories of learning the parts of speech in school, you've done your homework regarding this word. Parsing sentences, after all, is part and parcel of learning to read and write. Parse comes from the first element of the Latin term for "part of speech," pars orationis. It's an old word that has been used since at least the mid 1500s, but it was not until the late 1700s that parse graduated to its extended, non-grammar-related sense of "to examine in a minute way" or "to analyze critically." Remember this extended sense, and you'll really be at the head of the class.
Examples of parse in a Sentence
Christine Peterson, Outdoor Life, 25 Dec. 2024
One of the biggest questions in parsing blue bloods is where is the cutoff line?
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 19 Dec. 2024
Without the anchor of material reality, the life of the artist is reduced to a just-so story of soaring above banalities and complications—one that parses easily into its few dramatic through lines as if the stars were aligned from the start.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 19 Dec. 2024
Though the issues are well understood, parsing out which stakeholders are to blame is a complicated task.
—Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 18 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for parse 
Dictionary Entries Near parse
Cite this Entry
“Parse.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parse. Accessed 19 Jan. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share