<p><strong>Adjective</strong></p><ul><li>extending in the same direction, equidistant at all points, and never converging or diverging.</li><li>having the same direction, course, nature, or tendency; corresponding; similar; analogous.</li><li>(of straight lines) lying in the same plane but never meeting no matter how far extended.</li><li>(of planes) having common perpendiculars.</li><li>(of a single line, plane, etc.) equidistant from another or others (usually followed by to or with).</li><li>consisting of or having component parts connected in such a way that all positive terminals are connected to one point and all negative terminals are connected to a second point, the same voltage being applied to each component.</li><li>(of two voice parts) progressing so that the interval between them remains the same.</li><li>(of a tonality or key) having the same tonic but differing in mode.</li><li>(of or relating to the apparent or actual performance of more than one operation at a time by the same or different devices).</li><li>(of or relating to the simultaneous transmission or processing of all the parts of a whole, as all the bits of a byte or all the bytes of a computer word).</li><li>consisting of matched syntactic elements in corresponding positions.</li></ul><p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>a parallel line or plane.</li><li>anything parallel or comparable to something else in direction, course, nature, or tendency.</li><li>an imaginary circle on the earth's surface formed by the intersection of a plane parallel to the plane of the equator, bearing east and west and designated in degrees of latitude north or south of the equator along the arc of any meridian.</li><li>something identical or similar in essential respects; match; counterpart.</li><li>a comparison of things as if regarded side by side.</li><li>an arrangement of the components, such as resistors, of a circuit in such a way that all positive terminals are connected to one point and all negative terminals are connected to a second point, the same voltage being applied to each component.</li><li>a trench cut in the ground before a fortress, parallel to its defenses, for the purpose of covering a besieging force.</li><li>a pair of vertical parallel lines (‖) used as a mark for reference.</li><li>a trestle for supporting a platform parallel top.</li></ul><p><strong>Verb</strong></p><ul><li>to provide or show a parallel for; match.</li><li>to go or be in a parallel course, direction, etc., to.</li><li>to form a parallel to; be equivalent to; equal.</li><li>to show the identity or similarity of; compare.</li></ul>