Word
parse
US/ˈpɑɹs/
UK/pˈɑːs/
Definitions
01linguistic analysis
C1 · Advanced Science Technical · Academic
v. to analyze a sentence by naming its parts, like nouns and verbs, and explaining how they work together.
v. to resolve a sentence into its component parts of speech and describe their grammatical relationship.
“The students had to parse a complex poem to understand its hidden meaning.”
“In the introductory linguistics seminar, students were required to parse archaic Latin inscriptions to identify obsolete case endings.”
Usage
Often used as a transitive verb taking a sentence or phrase as its object.
Synonyms
02computing/data
C1 · Advanced Computing Technical
v. to break a string of data or code into smaller pieces so a computer can understand or use it.
v. to process a string of code or data to determine its syntactic structure relative to a formal grammar.
“The software failed because it could not parse the data from the old file.”
“The compiler will not execute the script if the source code fails to parse due to a missing semicolon in the declaration.”
Usage
Can be used transitively for the action or intransitively to describe if code is valid.
03to scrutinize
C2 · Proficiency Formal
v. to look at something very carefully to understand every small detail.
v. to examine or scrutinize something closely in order to extract specific meaning or intent.
“Lawyers had to parse every word of the contract to find any mistakes.”
“Political analysts spent hours parsing the minister's speech for any hint of a policy shift regarding international trade.”
Synonyms
04the act of analyzing
C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Computing Technical
n. the act of breaking down information or the result of that analysis.
n. the instance or result of a parsing process, particularly in a computational context.
“The system performed a quick parse of the document to check for errors.”
“After the initial parse of the raw telemetry data, the engineers identified a recurring synchronization error in the satellite's transmission.”
Usage
Usually a countable noun.
Real-World Examples
“While most of the LLMs failed to parse linguistic rules in the way that humans are able to, one had impressive abilities that greatly exceeded expectations.” “Aside from fNIRS, the obvious big one is LLMs, which allow us to parse vast amounts of speech.” Etymology
Possibly from Middle English pars (“parts, shares; parts of speech, grammar”), from Old French pars (plural of part (“part, portion, share”)), from Latin pars (“part, piece, share”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“to carry forth; to sell”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
VERB
NOUN
Domains
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.C1 AdvancedIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.7.0–8.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 5.0–5.595–113TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.945–990
- Frequency
- Occasional
- Level
- C1 · Advanced
- Updated
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