All 3 Uses of
parry
in
Nicholas Nickleby
- …and entangled sentences, the upshot of which was, that Mrs Kenwigs had examined him, at great length that morning, touching the origin of his acquaintance with, and the whole life, adventures, and pedigree of, Nicholas; that Newman had parried these questions as long as he could, but being, at length, hard pressed and driven into a corner, had gone so far as to admit, that Nicholas was a tutor of great accomplishments, involved in some misfortunes which he was not at liberty to…†
Chpt 16
- Nicholas could not refrain from smiling at the abruptness of the question; but, thinking it scarcely worth while to parry it, owned that he was under some apprehensions lest he might not succeed in the object which had brought him to that part of the country.†
Chpt 22
- 'Well, Tommy,' said this gentleman, making a thrust at his friend, who parried it dexterously with his slipper, 'what's the news?'†
Chpt 23 *
Definition:
-
(parry) to avoid -- especially to deflect (cause something to change direction)in 2 primary senses:
- to avoid an attack -- especially a physical attack as when deflecting the thrust of a sword
- to avoid answering a question with a clever response that directs attention elsewhere