parallel play
parallel play noun: a form of play involving two or more people doing the same play activity in the same location but without paying attention to one another.
Noun
parallel play (uncountable)
Verb
parallel play (third-person singular simple present parallel plays, present participle parallel playing, simple past and past participle parallel played)
- To engage in this form of play.
- I got some legos and parallel played, imitating her actions. Upon my entering her play she tried to engage me in the chase game again.1999, Deborah Abelman, Peer-mediated Intervention Strategies for Social Competency Skills of Preschoolers with Autism in Integrated Settings, page 68
Forms of parallel play
| third-person singular present | parallel plays |
|---|---|
| present participle | parallel playing |
| past participle | parallel played |
| past | parallel played |
Questions about parallel play
- What does parallel play mean?
- Parallel play means a form of play involving two or more people doing the same play activity in the same location but without paying attention to one another.
- What part of speech is parallel play?
- Parallel play can be a noun or a verb.
Words near parallel play in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: parallel play (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “parallel play.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/parallel_play. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.