parse

1 of 2

verb

ˈpärs 

 chiefly British  ˈpärz

parsed; parsing

transitive verb

1

a

: to divide (a sentence) into grammatical parts and identify the parts and their relations to each other

b

: to describe (a word) grammatically by stating the part of speech and explaining the inflection (see inflection sense 2a) and syntactical relationships

2

: to examine in a minute way : analyze critically

having trouble parsing … explanations for dwindling market shares

—R. S. Anson

intransitive verb

1

: to give a grammatical description of a word or a group of words

2

: to admit of being parsed

parse

2 of 2

noun

: a product or an instance of parsing

Did you know?

If parse brings up memories of learning the parts of speech in school, you've done your homework regarding this word. Parsing sentences, after all, is part and parcel of learning to read and write. Parse comes from the first element of the Latin term for "part of speech," pars orationis. It's an old word that has been used since at least the mid 1500s, but it was not until the late 1700s that parse graduated to its extended, non-grammar-related sense of "to examine in a minute way" or "to analyze critically." Remember this extended sense, and you'll really be at the head of the class.

Examples of parse in a Sentence

Verb

Students were asked to parse the sentence.

Economists parsed the census data.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The new archaeological work provides clearer context for parsing some of the patterns he’s observed in his work. —Lauren Leffer, Popular Science, 3 Apr. 2024

Gold is going up — but not as much as the S&P 500 Gold is doing very, very well this year, and the reasons why aren’t entirely easy to parse (one gold-mining CEO has his suspicions). —Morgan Haefner, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2024

In a now familiar paradox, the rational forces stuck to magical thinking, while the irrational ones were more logical, parsing the brute equations of power. —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024

The statewide election brought Schiff, Porter and Lee — all popular Democrats who work together in Congress — into a collision course for the first time, forcing California voters to parse their granular differences on the liberal spectrum. —Laura J. Nelson, Los Angeles Times, 6 Mar. 2024

If Powell doesn’t provide concrete information on potential rate adjustments to come, the market will still likely parse his words and the Fed statement for clues. —Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, 20 Mar. 2024

Recurrent neural networks struggled to parse longer chunks of text. —Steven Levy, WIRED, 20 Mar. 2024

Wall Street will also parse a slate of fresh data on the housing market next week, including the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index, housing starts data from the Census Bureau and the monthly existing home sales report from the National Association of Realtors. —Krystal Hur, CNN, 15 Mar. 2024

For decades, journalists, investors, and leaders have parsed the letters for Buffett’s wisdom and insights. —Carmine Gallo, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Latin pars orationis part of speech

First Known Use

Verb

circa 1568, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun

1963, in the meaning defined above

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Kids Definition

parse

verb

ˈpärs,

ˈpärz

parsed; parsing

1

: to analyze a sentence by naming its parts and their relations to each other

2

: to give the part of speech of a word and explain its relation to other words in a sentence