Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web

parser

 - 4 dictionary results

parse

[pahrs, pahrz] verb, parsed, pars⋅ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to analyze (a sentence) in terms of grammatical constituents, identifying the parts of speech, syntactic relations, etc.
2. to describe (a word in a sentence) grammatically, identifying the part of speech, inflectional form, syntactic function, etc.
3. Computers. to analyze (a string of characters) in order to associate groups of characters with the syntactic units of the underlying grammar.
–verb (used without object)
4. to admit of being parsed.

Origin:
1545–55; < L pars part, as in pars ōrātiōnis part of speech


pars⋅a⋅ble, adjective
parser, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To parser
parse   (pärs)   
v.   parsed, pars·ing, pars·es

v.   tr.
  1. To break (a sentence) down into its component parts of speech with an explanation of the form, function, and syntactical relationship of each part.

  2. To describe (a word) by stating its part of speech, form, and syntactical relationships in a sentence.

    1. To examine closely or subject to detailed analysis, especially by breaking up into components: "What are we missing by parsing the behavior of chimpanzees into the conventional categories recognized largely from our own behavior?" (Stephen Jay Gould).

    2. To make sense of; comprehend: I simply couldn't parse what you just said.

  3. Computer Science To analyze or separate (input, for example) into more easily processed components.

v.   intr.
To admit of being parsed: sentences that do not parse easily.

[Probably from Middle English pars, part of speech, from Latin pars (ōrātiōnis), part (of speech); see perə-2 in Indo-European roots.]
pars'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

parse 
c.1553, "to state the parts of speech in a sentence," verb use of M.E. pars (n.) "part of speech" (c.1300), from O.Fr. pars, pl. of part "part," from L. pars (see part (n.)) in school question, Quae pars orationis? "What part of speech?"
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Computing Dictionary

parser language
An algorithm or program to determine the syntactic structure of a sentence or string of symbols in some language. A parser normally takes as input a sequence of tokens output by a lexical analyser. It may produce some kind of abstract syntax tree as output. One of the best known parser generators is yacc.
(1997-07-21)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Cite This Source
Search another word or see parser on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us: