parry

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 3, 2024 is:

parry • \PAIR-ee\ • verb

Parry has two basic meanings. To parry can be to defend yourself by turning away from or pushing aside a weapon, assault, etc., or to evade something, such as a question, especially by using a clever response.

// Players of the game must unfailingly parry blows from multiple varied attackers while progressing through a series of worlds.

// She is consistently able to parry even the most difficult questions reporters level at her.

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Examples:

“Few things annoy me more than a fight scene that’s simply a blow-by-blow account. ‘He threw a right jab, which she parried and countered with a left knee, which he dodged by rolling out of the way.’ But to what end? The beauty of literature is it’s not a movie. Certainly, one should help readers visualize movements, but good prose can do so much more.” — Rita Chang-Eppig, LitHub.com, 19 May 2023

Did you know?

In the The Princess Bride, William Goldman’s 1973 comedic novel later made into a popular film of the same name, there is swashbuckling galore, as in the famous showdown between the mysterious man in black and the Spanish swordsman Inigo Montoya: “The man in black was slowly being forced toward a group of large boulders, for Inigo was anxious to see how well he moved when quarters were close, when you could not thrust or parry with total freedom.” To parry is to ward off a weapon or blow; indeed, parrying is as important to fencing as sticking one’s opponent with the pointy end. The word parry was borrowed from the French verb parer, meaning “to ward off” or “to avert,” and was first used in English in the late 17th century. It didn’t take long for parry to gain a figurative meaning of “to evade or turn aside something,” as when someone disarms a verbal sparring partner with a well-timed rejoinder. Montoya, for instance, parries the criminal Vizzini’s doubt that the man in black can catch up to them (“Inconceivable!”) with the sharp response “You keep using that word! … I don’t think it means what you think it does.”