- 1[usually plural] a person's father or mother He's still living with his parents. her adoptive parents Sue and Ben have recently become parents. It can be difficult to be a good parent. see one-parent family, single parent, stepparent
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- 2an animal or a plant which produces other animals or plants the parent bird/tree
- 3(often used as an adjective) an organization that produces and owns or controls smaller organizations of the same type a parent bank and its subsidiaries the parent company
Check pronunciation: parent