par‧ent S1 W1 / peərənt $ per- / 名词 [可数名词]

1 the father or mother of a person or animal :

Children under 14 should be accompanied by a parent.

The eggs are guarded by both parents.

Melissa’s spending the weekend at her parents’ house. → birth parent , → foster parents at foster 2 ( 3 ) , → lone parent at lone ( 2 ) , → one-parent family , single parent

2 something that produces other things of the same type :

New shoots appear near the parent plant.

3 a company which owns a smaller company or organization :

Land Rover’s new parent

COLLOCATIONS

ADJECTIVES/NOUN + parent

a single parent ( also a lone parent British English ) (= someone who has their children living with them, but no partner ) My mum is a single parent.

somebody’s biological/natural parents Most children are reared by their natural parents.

somebody’s birth parents (= the ones who are biologically related to them ) Only half the children who are adopted wish to discover their birth parents.

somebody’s real parents (= their biological parents ) I was thrilled to have found my real parents.

adoptive parents (= the people who take someone else’s child into their home and legally become his or her parents ) Adoptive parents often have little practical preparation for parenthood.

a foster parent (= someone who has other people’s children living with them ) Teresa was removed from her mother’s care and placed with foster parents.