n. 1. The southern arm of the Amazon in Brazil; also, a seaport on this arm. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. Short for Pará rubber. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

‖n. [ Turk., fr. Per. pārah a piece. ] A piece of Turkish money, usually copper, the fortieth part of a piaster, or about one ninth of a cent. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ Gr. para` beside; prob. akin to E. for- in forgive. Cf. For-. ] 1. A prefix signifying alongside of, beside, beyond, against, amiss; as parable, literally, a placing beside; paradox, that which is contrary to opinion; parachronism. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Chem.) A prefix denoting: (a) Likeness, similarity, or connection, or that the substance resembles, but is distinct from, that to the name of which it is prefixed; as paraldehyde, paraconine, etc.; also, an isomeric modification. (b) Specifically: (Organ. Chem.) That two groups or radicals substituted in the benzene nucleus are opposite, or in the respective positions 1 and 4; 2 and 5; or 3 and 6, as paraxylene; paroxybenzoic acid. Cf. Ortho-, and Meta-. Also used adjectively. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Gr. &unr_; to pass over. ] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, a nitrogenous acid which is obtained by the oxidation of uric acid, as a white crystalline substance (C3N2H2O3); -- also called oxalyl urea. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Gr. &unr_; to grow beside. See Para-, and -blast. ] (Biol.) A portion of the mesoblast (of peripheral origin) of the developing embryo, the cells of which are especially concerned in forming the first blood and blood vessels. C. S. Minot. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Biol.) Of or pertaining to the parablast; as, the parablastic cells. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To represent by parable. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Which by the ancient sages was thus parabled. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. parabilis, fr. parare to provide. ] Procurable. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. parabole, L. parabola, fr. Gr. &unr_; a placing beside or together, a comparing, comparison, a parable, fr. &unr_; to throw beside, compare; para` beside + &unr_; to throw; cf. Skr. gal to drop. Cf. Emblem, Gland, Palaver, Parabola, Parley, Parabole, Symbol. ] A comparison; a similitude; specifically, a short fictitious narrative of something which might really occur in life or nature, by means of which a moral is drawn; as, the parables of Christ. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

Declare unto us the parable of the tares. Matt. xiii. 36. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- See Allegory, and Note under Apologue. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Parabolas [ NL., fr. Gr. &unr_;; -- so called because its axis is parallel to the side of the cone. See Parable, and cf. Parabole. ] (Geom.) (a) A kind of curve; one of the conic sections formed by the intersection of the surface of a cone with a plane parallel to one of its sides. It is a curve, any point of which is equally distant from a fixed point, called the focus, and a fixed straight line, called the directrix. See Focus. (b) One of a group of curves defined by the equation y = axn where n is a positive whole number or a positive fraction. For the cubical parabola n = 3; for the semicubical parabola n = 3/2. See under Cubical, and Semicubical. The parabolas have infinite branches, but no rectilineal asymptotes. [ 1913 Webster ]