as in to expand
to use or develop (something) to get something else that has greater value
He hoped to parlay his basketball skills into a college scholarship.
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Recent Examples of parlay
Patriarch Carl Lindner, Jr., who died in 2011, made a fortune off the family's dairy business, United Dairy Farmers, parlaying that into investments with Chiquita, American Financial Group and other ventures.
—
Scott Wartman, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
Arnaz parlayed his talents to a spot in a rumba group called the Siboney Septet, named for the seaside Cuban town just outside Santiago, that was playing at Miami Beach’s original Roney Plaza on Collins Avenue.
—Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 19 June 2025
Meeks parlayed his newfound fame into a career, signing modeling contracts, booking films and inking book deals.
—Nicole Briese, People.com, 18 June 2025
Like many of her fellow teenage stars, Mendler parlayed television fame into pop stardom, scoring a handful of platinum records.
—ArsTechnica, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for parlay
Scott Wartman, The Enquirer, 2 July 2025
Arnaz parlayed his talents to a spot in a rumba group called the Siboney Septet, named for the seaside Cuban town just outside Santiago, that was playing at Miami Beach’s original Roney Plaza on Collins Avenue.
—Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 19 June 2025
Meeks parlayed his newfound fame into a career, signing modeling contracts, booking films and inking book deals.
—Nicole Briese, People.com, 18 June 2025
Like many of her fellow teenage stars, Mendler parlayed television fame into pop stardom, scoring a handful of platinum records.
—ArsTechnica, 11 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for parlay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for parlay
Verb
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Mari said the strike has now expanded to include Teamsters in California and Washington state, and that upwards of 4,000 union members are now in the midst of a work stoppage.—
Matthew Medsger,
Boston Herald,
14 July 2025
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Prime-One intends to serve nearby towns as well, with the founders saying the plan is to serve 4,000 homes with the initial build and then expand further.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
14 July 2025
Verb
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Those benefits extend beyond Rosary’s walls, school leadership has said.—
Molly Morrow,
Chicago Tribune,
7 July 2025
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That pause was set to expire Wednesday, before Leavitt announced that Trump would extend it by more than three weeks.—
Kevin Breuninger,
CNBC,
7 July 2025
Verb
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Flooding that started slow was quickly accelerating.—
N'dea Yancey-Bragg,
USA Today,
8 July 2025
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The measure also guts investment in clean energy at a moment when climate disruption is not only real but also accelerating.—
Thomas Kahn,
Chicago Tribune,
8 July 2025
Verb
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The expansion would boost cargo-handling capacity by 50% and create jobs, the company said at a ground breaking ceremony Friday.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
12 July 2025
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In Lake County, the 11% rate is greatly boosted by Gary’s 28% vacancy rate and East Chicago’s 21%, along with 15% in Whiting and Schneider.—
Doug Ross,
Chicago Tribune,
12 July 2025
Verb
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In a LinkedIn post, Farley called for speeding up permitting processes, increasing spending on vocational training, leveraging robotics and augmented reality to help with these spaces and suggested an AmeriCorps-type program for these roles.—
Breana Noble,
Boston Herald,
13 July 2025
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Under such a scenario, production would rapidly increase as would dollars facilitating same.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
13 July 2025
Verb
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As a result, Tehran has tried to balance Chinese influence by maintaining strong ties to India, Beijing’s chief rival within the developing world.—
Michael Schuman,
The Atlantic,
6 July 2025
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Reef habitats support aquatic plants and animals, allowing young marine life to develop.—
Rafe Pomerance,
Sun Sentinel,
6 July 2025
Verb
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Choose solutions that augment human intelligence—leveraging AI, behavioral science and automation to unlock capacity, not just cut costs.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
14 July 2025
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This is the first of a new type of rideshare program flying to that orbit that augments SpaceX’s Transporter program that flies to SSO.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
13 July 2025
Verb
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Carlos Alcaraz of Spain stretches to reach a shot from Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany in the third round of the Gentlemen's Singles Competition on Centre Court during the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at the All...—
Kilty Cleary,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 July 2025
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Ostensibly intended to protect a church’s autonomy in choosing its spiritual leaders, the exception has since been stretched into a catch-all excuse to deny employees of religious schools all kinds of legal recourse.—
A.J. Schumann,
Sun Sentinel,
6 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Parlay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/parlay. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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