Pa-rāde'1, n.
n. [Fr. parade, It. parata, parade, a parrying, from Lat. parare, paratum, to prepare, provide; It. parare, Fr. parer, to adorn, to trim out, to ward off, to parry; Sp. parada, a halt, stop, or stopping, a parade, a place where troops are assembled to exercise, from parar, to stop, to prepare.] 1. Pompous exhibition; display; ostentation; show. Be rich, but of your wealth make no parade. Swift.
- Especially, military display; the assembly and orderly arrangement of troops for show, inspection, or the like; hence, also, the place or ground where such display is held.
- That which is displayed, or assembled and disposed for display; a show; a spectacle; a pompous procession.
The rites performed, the parson paid, In state returned the grand parade. Swift. 4. The action of parrying a thrust. [A Gallicism.] Parade of a field work (Fort.), the space inclosed within the parapet. — Parade of a permanent work, the space inclosed within the rampart. Craighill. Syn.—Ostentation; display; show.—PARADE, OSTENTATION. Parade is a pompous exhibition of things for the purpose of display; ostentation now generally indicates a parade of virtues or other qualities for which one expects to be honored. “Parade is a forced effort to attract notice; as, when a man makes a parade of his wealth, his knowledge, his charities; ostentation includes the purpose for which the display is made, namely, to be seen and applauded by others.” Crabb. “It was not in the mere parade of royalty that the Mexican potentates exhibited their power.” Robertson. “We are dazzled with the splendor of titles, the ostentation of learning, and the noise of victories.” Spectator.