parchment

1446

parch-ment /'paitXmant; NAmE 'parrtX-/ noun 1 [U] material made from the skin of a sheep or goat, used in the past for writing on parchment scrolls A

2 [U] a thick yellowish type of paper 3 [C]

a document written on a piece of parchment A

pard-ner /'pa:dn0(r); NAmE 'pa:rd-/ noun {NAmE, informal, non-standard) a way of saying or writing ‘partner’ in informal speech ( partner fKj AJEA A

)

pardon /'pa:dn; NAmE 'pa:rdn/ exclamation, noun, verb m exclamation 1 (also ,pardon 'me especially in NAmE) used to ask sb to repeat sth because you did not hear it or did not understand it ( ASS^f ) ff

/ , if — ill: ‘You’re very quiet today.’ ‘Pardon?’ ‘I said you’re very quiet today. ’ “ # A A i£ iS A' W „ ” “ffA? ” AifHIlilA ” 2 (also .pardon

'me) used by some people to say ‘sorry’ when they have accidentally made a rude noise, or said or done sth wrong KUlfc; *fA&

mnoun 1 (also BrE, law W .free ’pardon) [C] an official decision not to punish sb for a crime, or to say that sb is not guilty of a crime _; to ask/grant/

receive a pardon i# A / #£ A / 2o a royal/ presidential pardon Hit / 2 [U] (formal) ~ (for

sth) the action of forgiving sb for sth J^ig; : He

asked her pardon for having deceived her. M,

ft Mi# 0321 forgiveness ITiTTTI see beg

■ verb (not usually used in the progressive tenses i§ A A ffiTjttfrN') 1 [VN] to officially allow sb who has been found guilty of a crime to leave prison and/or avoid punishment M. M : She was pardoned after

serving ten years of a life sentence.

A ¥ Ifj M IX ffe To 2 ~ sb (for sth/for doing sth) to forgive sb for sth they have said or done (used in many expressions when you want to be polite) Hig (

) HT1 excuse: [VN] Pardon my ignorance, but what is a ‘duplex’? if duplex jlff

/%? 0 The place was, if you’ll pardon the expression,

a dump. M^m^'; ifMMA&Mo o

(BrE) You could be pardoned for thinking (= it is easy to understand why people think) that education is not the government’s priority. ACliAAi&Jf

H 7JI I? 6iJ o o Pardon me for interrupting you. A®, ffiltl&T o 0 [VN -ing] Pardon my asking, but is that your husband? if 2}|$fvllj&&il5fc£ⁿ#?

[also VNN] lliffil .pardon 'me (informal) 1 (especially NAmE) used to ask sb to repeat sth because you did not hear it or do not understand it ( flTif ^JAS) ft£,, if IX 2 used by some people to say ‘sorry when they have accidentally made a rude noise or done sth wrong ( )

A^3 —see also I beg your pardon at beg .pardon me for 'doing sth used to show that you are upset or offended by the way that sb has spoken to you (

AMif ) J£i3mAf#A#£#f:

‘Oh, just shut up!’ ‘Well, pardon me for breathing!’ “ffc

£&mmi ” “U#, Ati&A^AlWB! ” —more at French n.

pardon-able /'paidnabl; NAmE 'pairdn-/ adj. that can be forgiven or excused % Jp£ ig &iJ ; r[ IM % W. W EXCUSABLE EH3 UNPARDONABLE pare /pea(r); NAmE per/ verb [VN] 1 ~ sth (off/away) to remove the thin outer layer of sth fij ; A : First, pare the rind from the lemon. o She

pared the apple. M f!] T ^ „ 2 ~ sth (back/down) to gradually reduce the size or amount MAMA ( ffcfR ) ; A: The training budget has been pared back to a minimum. J&UHfWGtt-fl!lJSfJJkffisRIfif«, 0 The workforce has been pared to the bone (= reduced to the lowest possible level). A W] M X B & M 3\ Wt HI ₀ 3 (especially BrE) to cut away the edges of sth, especially your nails, in order to make them smooth and neat . Hf ■( ^ ) — see also parings

parent 0"w /'pearant; NAmE 'per-/ noun 1 [usually pi.] a person’s father or mother

) : He’s still living with his parents.

—feo o her adoptive parents iff o Sue and Ben

have recently become parents.

To — see also one-parent family, single parent, step-parent 2 an animal or a plant which produces other animals or plants bstk fi#)£lij ) Aft,

A, -fifA: the parent bird/tree Aft^ / W 3 (often used as an adjective # § il|) an organization that

produces and owns or controls smaller organizations of the same type fi'JMfJU*); a parent bank

and its subsidiaries M, ff R ^ pf M fg It 0 the parent company

parent-age /'pearantid3; NAmE 'per-/ noun [u] the origin of a person’s parents and who they are dj %;

%.; MM: a young American of German parentage -'A O Nothing is known about her parentage and background, life 1$ MMffi Mlf] A W ₀ paren tal /pa'rentl/ adj. [usually before noun] connected with a parent or parents

PI): parental responsibility/rights A # Pi) IR ^ f'] 0

parental choice in education o the

parental home

parenthesis /pa'renGasis/ noun (pi. par-en-theses /-asiiz/) 1 a word, sentence, etc. that is added to a speech or piece of writing, especially in order to give extra information. In writing, it is separated from the rest of the text using brackets, commas or dashes. 1§At« 2 [usually pi.] (NAmE or formal) = bracket n.( 1): Irregular forms are given in parentheses.

parenthetical/.paeran'Oetikl/ (also par-en-thet-ic/-ik/) adj. [usually before noun] (formal) given as extra information in a speech or piece of writing jg APiJ; A tiljf

PiJ: parenthetical remarks ► par-en-thet-ic-al-

ly /-kli/ adv.

parent-hood /’pearanthud; NAmE 'per-/ noun [u] the state of being a parent 1$ M Pi) 0 {fr: the responsi- bilities/joys of parenthood / AA

parenting /'pearantirj; NAmE 'per-/ noun [U] the process of caring for your child or children # W; ffc # ; %. # : good/poor parenting O

parenting skills paren tis o in loco parentis

'parents-in-law noun [pi.] the parents of your husband or wife — see also in-laws

.parent-'teacher association noun = PTA par excellence /,pa:r 'eksalains; NAmE .eksa'lains/ adj. (from French) (only used after the noun it describes fX.fl PT£ isl^./S') better than all the others of the same kind; a very good example of sth Pi);

PlJ; AM Pi); A® Pi): She turned out to be an organizer par excellence.

► par excellence adv._: Chemistry was par excellence the laboratory science of the early nineteenth century.

19

par-iah /pa'raia/ noun a person who is not acceptable to society and is avoided by everyone

H771 OUTCAST

pa'riah dog noun = pye-dog

parings /'pearirjz; NAmE 'per-/ noun [pi.] thin pieces that have been cut off sth fij A A#); fU A PiJ 5? iff : cheese parings — see also pare

parish /'paeriX/ noun 1 [c] an area that has its own church and that a priest is responsible for AE; ffcK: a parish church/priest AKPiJlX# / 0 He is vicar of

a large rural parish. A-^AAicliPiJ2 [C]

(in England) a small country area that has its own elected local government ( ^ ^ ^ H Pi) ff Wi A K:

the parish council 3 [C+sing./pl. v.] the people

living in a particular area, especially those who go to church IXKPi)®^;. j ( ) iUXicIi

par-ish-ad /'pAriXAd/ noun (IndE) a council §1 .parish clerk noun an official who organizes the affairs of a church in a particular area pa rish ion er /pa'riXana(r)/ noun a person living in a parish, especially one who goes to church regularly