Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Parley

Par′ley (pär′ly̆), n.; pl. Parleys (#). [F. parler speech, talk, fr. parler to speak, LL. parabolare, fr. L. parabola a comparison, parable, in LL., a word. See Parable, and cf. Parliament, Parlor.] Mutual discourse or conversation; discussion; hence, an oral conference with an enemy, as with regard to a truce.

We yield on parley, but are stormed in vain. Dryden.

To beat a parley (Mil.), to beat a drum, or sound a trumpet, as a signal for holding a conference with the enemy.

Par′ley, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Parleyed; p. pr. & vb. n. Parleying.] To speak with another; to confer on some point of mutual concern; to discuss orally; hence, specifically, to confer orally with an enemy; to treat with him by words, as on an exchange of prisoners, an armistice, or terms of peace.

They are at hand, To parley or to fight; therefore prepare. Shak.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.