parriest

Verb

parry (third-person singular simple present parries, present participle parrying, simple past and past participle parried)

1. To avoid, deflect, or ward off (an attack, a blow, an argument, etc.).
   • One had to be on one's guard when thus confronted and, in the course of my numerous meetings with him, I had on occasion to exercise all my wits and be prepared at a moment's notice to parry a very awkward question, to which I would much rather have given a considered reply.1944 March and April, Chas. S. Lake, “Some C.M.Es. I Have Known: VIII—Sir H. N. Gresley”, in Railway Magazine, page 74

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