parallel

Two lines stay the same distance apart along their whole length and never meet.

• The two lines are parallel.
• Opposite sides of a rectangle are parallel.
• Is this edge parallel to that one?

How to use it: parallel to something (Draw a line parallel to the bottom edge.)

Opposites: intersecting

Common phrases: parallel lines, parallel sides, two parallel tracks

Going in the same general direction, usually side by side.

• We followed parallel paths through the forest.
• The road is parallel to the river.
• Two roughly parallel routes lead to the village.

How to use it: parallel to something (The railway is roughly parallel to the coast.)

Common phrases: parallel roads, parallel routes, parallel to something

Using a computer to carry out several tasks at the same time.

• Parallel processing saves time.
• The program uses a parallel algorithm.
• Multiple cores make parallel execution possible.

Similar words: concurrent

Opposites: sequential, serial

Common phrases: parallel processing, parallel computing, a parallel algorithm

A way in which two people, things, or situations are similar.

• I see a parallel between their lives.
• There are striking parallels with earlier events.
• Can you find any parallels in these stories?

How to use it: a parallel between A and B (There is a parallel between their childhoods.); a parallel with something (Her story has a clear parallel with mine.)

Similar words: similarity, resemblance

Opposites: difference

Common phrases: a striking parallel, a close parallel, find a parallel

A comparison that shows how two people or things are alike.

• He drew a parallel between the two wars.
• Her essay develops a parallel between two poets.
• The critic’s parallel highlights their shared themes.

How to use it: draw a parallel between A and B (The writer draws a parallel between the two leaders.)

Similar words: comparison, analogy

Common phrases: draw a parallel, a historical parallel, an extended parallel

An imaginary line around the Earth connecting places equally far north or south of the equator.

• The border follows the 49th parallel.
• Mark these parallels on the map.
• The town lies just north of the 30th parallel.

Similar words: line of latitude

Common phrases: the northern parallel, the 38th parallel, parallel of latitude

Alongside something else, keeping the same distance from it or following the same direction.

• The tracks run parallel.
• The stream flows parallel to the road.
• We walked parallel to the fence.

How to use it: run parallel to something (The road runs parallel to the canal.)

Common phrases: run parallel, flow parallel, parallel to something

To be similar to something else in important ways.

• Her experience parallels mine.
• The novel’s events paralleled his own life.
• These findings closely parallel those of earlier studies.

Similar words: resemble, mirror, correspond to

Common phrases: parallel someone’s experience, closely parallel something, parallel historical events