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

Another challenge is parsing millions of pages of corporate documents to figure out what shareholders are actually being asked to decide. —Rohan Goswami, semafor.com, 11 Sep. 2025

Yet parsing the distinctions between Bluesky and X has a burgeoning air of futility. —Kyle Chayka, New Yorker, 10 Sep. 2025

Likewise, Impressions, traditionally another key metric showing how often a listing is seen, could count for less when agents are simply parsing content to extract data, and won’t be influenced to look closer by clever copywriting or eye-catching design. —Bernard Marr, Forbes.com, 10 Sep. 2025

Further muddying the waters, Californians will likely have to parse dueling recommendations on vaccine use. —Grant Stringer, Mercury News, 8 Sep. 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

Rhymes for parse

• arse
• carse
• farce
• marse
• sparse

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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