as in to expand
to use or develop (something) to get something else that has greater value
He hoped to parlay his basketball skills into a college scholarship.
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Recent Examples of parlay
Hewitt wanted to parlay his internship into a career in baseball.
—
Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2026
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Voros majored in English at Harvard University and hoped to eventually parlay that into a career as an actor in the theater, her first love.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 20 Mar. 2026
Having built his fame through social media and then parlayed his skills at climbing vertiginous structures, photography and drone operation into a lucrative art career — one partly built on non-fungible tokens — Wright has a narrative that’s also a quintessentially 21st-century success story.
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 18 Mar. 2026
There are also nods to Audemars Piguet’s more recent history, like a cool Marshall jukebox packed with songs from AP collaborators—Mark Ronson, John Mayer, and Raye, among them—which parlays the strong music seam that runs though the new AP House.
—Ming Liu, Robb Report, 14 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for parlay
Walter Villa, Miami Herald, 24 Mar. 2026
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Voros majored in English at Harvard University and hoped to eventually parlay that into a career as an actor in the theater, her first love.
—Jessica Radloff, Glamour, 20 Mar. 2026
Having built his fame through social media and then parlayed his skills at climbing vertiginous structures, photography and drone operation into a lucrative art career — one partly built on non-fungible tokens — Wright has a narrative that’s also a quintessentially 21st-century success story.
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 18 Mar. 2026
There are also nods to Audemars Piguet’s more recent history, like a cool Marshall jukebox packed with songs from AP collaborators—Mark Ronson, John Mayer, and Raye, among them—which parlays the strong music seam that runs though the new AP House.
—Ming Liu, Robb Report, 14 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for parlay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parlay
Verb
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Its owners have expanded their impact and influence to the nearby community to limit development and maintain its cultural identity, which includes restoring and caring for the historic stone buildings from the salt trade era.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
7 Apr. 2026
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This will expand affordable rental options and enable home repairs, solar installations and energy upgrades.—
Chase Jordan
April 7,
Charlotte Observer,
7 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Those connections extend beyond the dining room.—
Evan Moore
April 8,
Charlotte Observer,
8 Apr. 2026
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But the Red Sox stayed patient and extended at-bats as Crochet did his job keeping the Brewers off the board for the first six innings.—
Jen McCaffrey,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Such mutations can accelerate a tumor’s growth, making the cancer harder and harder to treat and sometimes, as in this instance, claiming the patient’s life.—
Jerome Groopman,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
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Netanyahu backed the bill despite warnings of an international backlash accelerating Israel’s diplomatic isolation in Europe and beyond.—
Tal Shalev,
CNN Money,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Your 3rd House of Information and your 11th House of Community are both boosted by the Moon’s trine to lucky Jupiter.—
Tarot.com,
Baltimore Sun,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Gardeners frequently incorporate raw manure in the fall or composted manure in the spring to naturally boost soil nutrients.—
Anthony Reardon,
Kansas City Star,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The MorphoScan’s measurements ebbed and flowed from day to day as expected, with my weight dropping the day after a cardio workout and increasing after a weekend of indulgence.—
Andrew Gebhart,
PC Magazine,
5 Apr. 2026
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UConn recovered from its prolonged shooting slump to regain its bearings, eventually increasing its lead to 10 points on a Mullins’ 3 with 47 seconds left in the half before heading into the locker room up 37-29.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In January, a DNA profile was successfully developed and uploaded to a direct-to-consumer ancestry database while a genealogist assigned to the Riverside Cold Case Homicide Team was able to positively identify a potential match to a close relative in Alabama.—
Dean Fioresi,
CBS News,
5 Apr. 2026
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Waldron developed a knuckleball, no small feat.—
Tom Krasovic,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Within weeks, Ponson augmented his tasks as a fishing boat captain with a part-time job at Celebration Church in New Orleans.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
5 Apr. 2026
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This was the first Dragon launch from SLC-40 since the addition of a crew access arm to support Dragon launches from more than one Space Coast pad and augment normal launches from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Much of Colorado’s growth is now concentrated in a belt of counties stretching from Weld down to Elbert and El Paso counties, temporarily bypassing Arapahoe, which had the state’s biggest population loss in raw numbers.—
Aldo Svaldi,
Denver Post,
8 Apr. 2026
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That expansion now stretches beyond content into areas like financial services and telecom, further increasing demands on his time.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Parlay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parlay. Accessed 9 Apr. 2026.
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