parry

present singular third person parries · participle present parrying · participle past parried · past parried · alternative parree

1. To avoid, deflect, or ward off (an attack, a blow, an argument, etc.).

   Wojciech Szczesny was then called into action twice in a minute to parry fierce drives from Djebbour and Torossidis as Arsenal's back four looked all at sea.

   2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2 - 1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport

   1 more example

   One had to be on one's guard when thus confronted and, in the course of my numerous meetings with him, I had on occasion to exercise all my wits and be prepared at a moment's notice to parry a very awkward question, to which I would much rather have given a considered reply.

   1944 March and April, Chas. S. Lake, “Some C.M.Es. I Have Known: VIII—Sir H. N. Gresley”, in Railway Magazine, page 74

plural parries · alternative parree

1. A defensive or deflective action; an act of parrying.
2. fencingA simple defensive action designed to deflect an attack, performed with the forte of the blade.
3. combat sportsgovernmentA defensive move intended to change the direction of an incoming strike to make it miss its intended target, rather than block and absorb it; and typically performed with an open hand in a downward or sideways slapping motion.

1. A surname from Welsh.
2. A unisex given name.
3. A hamlet in the Rural Municipality of Caledonia, No. 99, Saskatchewan, Canada.