parry
Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
parry/ˈpari/
▶verb (parries, parrying, parried)
- 1 ward off (a weapon or attack) with a countermove.
- 2 answer (a question or accusation) evasively.
– origin C17: prob. representing Fr. parez! ‘ward off!’, imper. of parer.
'parry' also found in these Oxford entries:

