Parry (verb)
pa-ree
Ward off (a weapon or attack) with a countermove.
Answer (a question or accusation) evasively.
Late 17th century probably representing French parez! ‘ward off!’, imperative of parer, from Italian parare ‘ward off’.
Example sentences
“He parried all accusations, refusing to take responsibility for his part in the trouble.”
Wonky (adj) won-kee Not straight or balanced, off kilter. First recorded in 1915–20; perhaps variant of dialectal wanky, equivalent to wank(le) ( Middle English wankel, Old English wancol. (more…)
