parse

1 of 2

verb

ˈpärs 

 chiefly British  ˈpärz

parsed; parsing

transitive verb

1

a

: to divide (a sentence) into grammatical parts and identify the parts and their relations to each other

b

: to describe (a word) grammatically by stating the part of speech and explaining the inflection (see inflection sense 2a) and syntactical relationships

2

: to examine in a minute way : analyze critically

having trouble parsing … explanations for dwindling market shares

—R. S. Anson

intransitive verb

1

: to give a grammatical description of a word or a group of words

2

: to admit of being parsed

parse

2 of 2

noun

: a product or an instance of parsing

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

Verb

Students were asked to parse the sentence.

Economists parsed the census data.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Investors will also parse through a number of earnings reports from industrial companies next week. —Sarah Min, CNBC, 17 Jan. 2025

Third-party testing is hard to come by, but the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) is independently funded and has a Skin Deep database tool for consumers to parse what harmful ingredients might be lurking in their cosmetics and personal care products. —Kat Merck, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2025

While influencers and brands currently must either work off intuition or invest many research hours to build campaign strategies, new influencer tools parse the data and create strategic frameworks so influencers can focus efforts on being creative and engaging audiences. —Ismael El Qudsi, Forbes, 16 Jan. 2025

On Tuesday, the Legislative Analyst Office, the Legislature’s nonpartisan fiscal adviser, parsed power rates, putting them at the nation’s second-highest behind those in Hawaii. —Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 9 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Latin pars orationis part of speech

First Known Use

Verb

circa 1568, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun

1963, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

parse

verb

ˈpärs,

ˈpärz

parsed; parsing

1

: to analyze a sentence by naming its parts and their relations to each other

2

: to give the part of speech of a word and explain its relation to other words in a sentence