Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use parry in a sentence

15 example sentences · verb, noun

Parry means to avoid, deflect, or ward off (an attack, a blow, an argument, etc.). Example: “Pierre was a master swordsman, and could parry the thrusts of lesser men with barely a thought.”

Examples of parry by meaning

verbTo avoid, deflect, or ward off (an attack, a blow, an argument, etc.).

  • Wojciech Szczesny was then called into action twice in a minute to parry fierce drives from Djebbour and Torossidis as Arsenal's back four looked all at sea.2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport

More sentences with parry

  • Pierre was a master swordsman, and could parry the thrusts of lesser men with barely a thought.From the entry thrust
  • Just when he thought that the cross-examination was over and he'd parried the questions successfully, one of the lawyers stood up and threw a left hook that left him spluttering.From the entry left hook
  • The fencers lunged and parried their way to a Western Canadian Intervarsity Athletic Union championship.2006, James M. Pitsula, As one who serves: the making of the University of Regina. From the entry intervarsity
  • The attacking fencer would be open to a compound riposte following a successful parry by their opponent.1999, Allan Skipp, “Key Techniques”, in Handbook of Foil Fencing, Armley, Leeds: Coachwise Business Solutions for British Fencing…. From the entry feint
  • Johnston parried Marshall’s complaint by asserting that what he really said was 'It is the Eirish capital'!1941 Denis Johnson, cited in Theodor Fontane, 1989,Delusions, confusions; and the Poggenpuhl family (New York: Continuum) →ISBN) p.121. From the entry Eirish
  • The forte is for parrying, and the debole for striking.2021, Guy Windsor, The Complete Rapier. From the entry debole
  • It was also a very good shield and with it, he parried the blow meant for his head.2013, Steve Vera, Drynn. From the entry ridgebone
  • If they always do a lateral parry quarte, and never a semicircular octave, that gives you an opening.2009, Ray Finkleman, (Please provide the book title or journal name). From the entry octave
  • The usual Sorkinian rhythms – walk and talk; stand and shout; quip and parry – are sped up and syncopated by Mr.2015 October 8, A[nthony] O[liver] Scott, “Review: 'Steve Jobs,' Apple's visionary C.E.O. dissected [print version: Apple's visionary…. From the entry kineticism
  • Nightlife in Strumstad boils down to Skagerack, a very loud, very young music venue in the classic wedding-cake building where the Stockholm elite once parried.2003, Rough Guide To Scandinavia, page 502. From the entry wedding-cake
  • The speartip rushed ahead in three rapid thrusts, but Luthien managed to parry and dodge, shifting his hips out of harm's way each time.2001, R. A. Salvatore, The Dragon King. From the entry speartip
  • The political canvass had given freedom to his wings; he had learned to think on his feet, to meet interruption, to parry in debate.c. 1919, Elbert Hubbard, “Richard Cobden”, in Little Journeys, Volume 9: Great Reformers. From the entry think on one's feet
  • Add in to that, some ryūs also taught how to parry and counterattack against swords and spears by somebody only armed with a knife or short stick.2019, Angus MacM. Hodgson, chapter 1, in The Omega Project, book 3 (The Path of War), Indianapolis, Ind.: Dog Ear Publishing, →ISBN, page 34. From the entry ryū
  • Friedel again had to save as he parried a Patrice Evra shot before gathering the ball after the left-back had been put through by Ryan Giggs.2011 February 1, Mandeep Sanghera, “Man Utd 3 - 1 Aston Villa”, in BBC. From the entry put through

Meaning of parry

  1. verb To avoid, deflect, or ward off (an attack, a blow, an argument, etc.).
  2. noun A defensive or deflective action; an act of parrying.
  3. noun A simple defensive action designed to deflect an attack, performed with the forte of the blade.

Full definition of parry

Questions about parry in a sentence

How do you use parry in a sentence?
Parry is used as a verb and noun. For example: “Pierre was a master swordsman, and could parry the thrusts of lesser men with barely a thought.”
What is a short sentence with parry?
“The forte is for parrying, and the debole for striking.”
What does parry mean?
Parry means to avoid, deflect, or ward off (an attack, a blow, an argument, etc.).

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: parry (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use parry in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/parry. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.