1
: a promise made with or confirmed by a pledge of one's honor
especially
: the promise of a prisoner of war to fulfill stated conditions in consideration of his release
2
: a watchword given only to officers of the guard and of the day
3
: a conditional release of a prisoner serving an indeterminate or unexpired sentence
4
a
: language viewed as a specific individual usage : performance
b
: a linguistic act compare langue
parole
adjective
Examples of parole in a Sentence
Noun
The prisoner will be eligible for parole after three years.
She robbed a bank while out on parole.
The prisoner was released on parole.
Recent Examples on the Web
Tj MacIas, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2024
Ethan Crumbley, who was only 15 years old at the time of the shooting, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the shooting that killed four students: Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17.
—Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 9 Apr. 2024
Woodward is charged with murder, with enhancements for use of a deadly weapon and for hate crime, which could put him in prison for life without parole.
—Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2024
Specifically, the lawmakers argue Mayorkas opened up the possibility of parole resulting in an increase in migrants crossing the border under his time as secretary.
—Claudia Grisales, NPR, 9 Apr. 2024
Their son pleaded guilty to all charges against him and is serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
—Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press, 3 Apr. 2024
Kirby Torres, 38, who has been in custody since 2020, will serve at least 20 years of that sentence before becoming eligible for consideration of elder parole, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.
—Andrew Sheeler, Sacramento Bee, 30 Mar. 2024
The parole board granted his parole in August and Thomas was released the following February.
—Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2024
On Wednesday, one of her prosecutors unsuccessfully asked a judge Wednesday to dismiss all of the enhancements filed against Williams roughly 18 months ago, including two that could have prevented Williams from seeking parole, if convicted.
—Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 29 Mar. 2024
Christie D’zurilla, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
She was paroled into the STOP program and sent to Walden House, a 72-bed facility for women parolees and their children.
—Calmatters, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2024
The man who killed Laken Riley was paroled in the United States.
—Nbc Universal, NBC News, 10 Mar. 2024
Halim was paroled in 2010 after serving more than four decades in prison.
—Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2024
He was paroled in 2018 and has since gotten married, bought two properties, and now works at the New Orleans Public Defenders’ Office helping former inmates successfully reintegrate into society.
—Tim Craig, Washington Post, 19 Feb. 2024
He was sentenced to 16 years-to-life and paroled in February 2019.
—Zach Everson, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
He was sent back to prison in February for violating the conditions of his parole before being paroled again weeks ago.
—Louis Casiano, Fox News, 25 Mar. 2024
But, Augustin said, many of the Haitians who arrived legally in the past 14 months were placed immediately in removal proceedings at the same time they were paroled.
—Joe Heim, Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2024
Noun
He was released on parole in 2017 and cleared in 2021.
—Tj MacIas, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2024
Ethan Crumbley, who was only 15 years old at the time of the shooting, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the shooting that killed four students: Tate Myre, 16; Hana St. Juliana, 14; Madisyn Baldwin, 17, and Justin Shilling, 17.
—Nadine El-Bawab, ABC News, 9 Apr. 2024
Woodward is charged with murder, with enhancements for use of a deadly weapon and for hate crime, which could put him in prison for life without parole.
—Christopher Goffard, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2024
Specifically, the lawmakers argue Mayorkas opened up the possibility of parole resulting in an increase in migrants crossing the border under his time as secretary.
—Claudia Grisales, NPR, 9 Apr. 2024
Their son pleaded guilty to all charges against him and is serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
—Tresa Baldas, Detroit Free Press, 3 Apr. 2024
Kirby Torres, 38, who has been in custody since 2020, will serve at least 20 years of that sentence before becoming eligible for consideration of elder parole, according to the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.
—Andrew Sheeler, Sacramento Bee, 30 Mar. 2024
The parole board granted his parole in August and Thomas was released the following February.
—Hannah Wiley, Los Angeles Times, 30 Mar. 2024
On Wednesday, one of her prosecutors unsuccessfully asked a judge Wednesday to dismiss all of the enhancements filed against Williams roughly 18 months ago, including two that could have prevented Williams from seeking parole, if convicted.
—Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 29 Mar. 2024
Verb
She was paroled in December 2022, according to the Daily Beast.
—Christie D’zurilla, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
She was paroled into the STOP program and sent to Walden House, a 72-bed facility for women parolees and their children.
—Calmatters, The Mercury News, 12 Mar. 2024
The man who killed Laken Riley was paroled in the United States.
—Nbc Universal, NBC News, 10 Mar. 2024
Halim was paroled in 2010 after serving more than four decades in prison.
—Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2024
He was paroled in 2018 and has since gotten married, bought two properties, and now works at the New Orleans Public Defenders’ Office helping former inmates successfully reintegrate into society.
—Tim Craig, Washington Post, 19 Feb. 2024
He was sentenced to 16 years-to-life and paroled in February 2019.
—Zach Everson, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
He was sent back to prison in February for violating the conditions of his parole before being paroled again weeks ago.
—Louis Casiano, Fox News, 25 Mar. 2024
But, Augustin said, many of the Haitians who arrived legally in the past 14 months were placed immediately in removal proceedings at the same time they were paroled.
—Joe Heim, Washington Post, 2 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'parole.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near parole
Cite this Entry
“Parole.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/parole. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
parole
1 of 2 noun
pa·role
pə-ˈrōl 
: an early release of a prisoner who meets specified requirements
parole
2 of 2 verb
paroled; paroling
: to release on parole
parolee
noun
pə-ˌrō-ˈlē
Medical Definition
parole
noun
pa·role
pə-ˈrōl
: a conditional release given to a psychiatric patient in a hospital before discharge enabling the patient to visit freely various designated areas on the hospital grounds or beyond its limits
parolable
adjective
parole
transitive verb
paroled; paroling
Legal Definition
Etymology
Noun
Old French, speech, word, prisoner's word of honor to fulfill stated conditions, from Late Latin parabola speech, parable, from Greek parabolē comparison
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share