par ‧ ry /ˈpæri/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle parried , present participle parrying , third person singular parries )
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Origin: Probably from French parez! 'prepare!' , from parer ; ⇨ ↑ pare ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to defend yourself against someone who is attacking you by pushing their weapon or hand to one side SYN deflect :
It is far easier to parry a direct blow than to stop it forcibly.
2 . [transitive] to avoid answering a question that is difficult to answer or that someone does not want to answer:
He parried all her questions about his work.
—parry noun [countable]