diff --git a/ColorCode.Core/CodeColorizerBase.cs b/ColorCode.Core/CodeColorizerBase.cs
index 2618b58..308fa27 100644
--- a/ColorCode.Core/CodeColorizerBase.cs
+++ b/ColorCode.Core/CodeColorizerBase.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 using ColorCode.Compilation;
 using ColorCode.Parsing;
 using ColorCode.Styling;
+using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 
 namespace ColorCode
@@ -10,12 +11,13 @@ namespace ColorCode
     /// </summary>
     /// <param name="Style">The Custom styles to Apply to the formatted Code.</param>
     /// <param name="languageParser">The language parser that the <see cref="CodeColorizerBase"/> instance will use for its lifetime.</param>
+    /// <param name="defaultParseTimeoutSec">The default amount of time spent parsing before throwing a <see cref="System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexMatchTimeoutException"/></param>
     public abstract class CodeColorizerBase
     {
-        public CodeColorizerBase(StyleDictionary Styles, ILanguageParser languageParser)
+        public CodeColorizerBase(StyleDictionary Styles, ILanguageParser languageParser, double defaultParseTimeoutSec = 4)
         {
             this.languageParser = languageParser
-                ?? new LanguageParser(new LanguageCompiler(Languages.CompiledLanguages), Languages.LanguageRepository);
+                ?? new LanguageParser(new LanguageCompiler(Languages.CompiledLanguages), Languages.LanguageRepository, defaultParseTimeoutSec);
 
             this.Styles = Styles ?? StyleDictionary.DefaultLight;
         }
diff --git a/ColorCode.Core/Compilation/ILanguageCompiler.cs b/ColorCode.Core/Compilation/ILanguageCompiler.cs
index 97e696c..dfda630 100644
--- a/ColorCode.Core/Compilation/ILanguageCompiler.cs
+++ b/ColorCode.Core/Compilation/ILanguageCompiler.cs
@@ -4,6 +4,6 @@ namespace ColorCode.Compilation
 {
     public interface ILanguageCompiler
     {
-        CompiledLanguage Compile(ILanguage language);
+        CompiledLanguage Compile(ILanguage language, double defaultParseTimeoutSec);
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/ColorCode.Core/Compilation/LanguageCompiler.cs b/ColorCode.Core/Compilation/LanguageCompiler.cs
index 53fde61..106ba2f 100644
--- a/ColorCode.Core/Compilation/LanguageCompiler.cs
+++ b/ColorCode.Core/Compilation/LanguageCompiler.cs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ public LanguageCompiler(Dictionary<string, CompiledLanguage> compiledLanguages)
             compileLock = new ReaderWriterLockSlim();
         }
 
-        public CompiledLanguage Compile(ILanguage language)
+        public CompiledLanguage Compile(ILanguage language, double defaultParseTimeoutSec)
         {
             Guard.ArgNotNull(language, "language");
 
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public CompiledLanguage Compile(ILanguage language)
                         if (language.Rules == null || language.Rules.Count == 0)
                             throw new ArgumentException("The language rules collection must not be empty.", "language");
 
-                        compiledLanguage = CompileLanguage(language);
+                        compiledLanguage = CompileLanguage(language, defaultParseTimeoutSec);
 
                         compiledLanguages.Add(compiledLanguage.Id, compiledLanguage);
                     }
@@ -80,17 +80,17 @@ public CompiledLanguage Compile(ILanguage language)
             return compiledLanguage;
         }
 
-        private static CompiledLanguage CompileLanguage(ILanguage language)
+        private static CompiledLanguage CompileLanguage(ILanguage language, double defaultParseTimeoutSec)
         {
             string id = language.Id;
             string name = language.Name;
 
-            CompileRules(language.Rules, out Regex regex, out IList<string> captures);
+            CompileRules(language.Rules, defaultParseTimeoutSec, out Regex regex, out IList<string> captures);
 
             return new CompiledLanguage(id, name, regex, captures);
         }
 
-        private static void CompileRules(IList<LanguageRule> rules, out Regex regex, out IList<string> captures)
+        private static void CompileRules(IList<LanguageRule> rules, double defaultParseTimeoutSec, out Regex regex, out IList<string> captures)
         {
             StringBuilder regexBuilder = new StringBuilder();
             captures = new List<string>();
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ private static void CompileRules(IList<LanguageRule> rules, out Regex regex, out
             for (int i = 1; i < rules.Count; i++)
                 CompileRule(rules[i], regexBuilder, captures, false);
 
-            regex = new Regex(regexBuilder.ToString());
+            regex = new Regex(regexBuilder.ToString(), RegexOptions.None, TimeSpan.FromSeconds(defaultParseTimeoutSec));
         }
 
         private static void CompileRule(LanguageRule languageRule, StringBuilder regex, ICollection<string> captures, bool isFirstRule)
diff --git a/ColorCode.Core/Parsing/LanguageParser.cs b/ColorCode.Core/Parsing/LanguageParser.cs
index 9b76033..dddfb4b 100644
--- a/ColorCode.Core/Parsing/LanguageParser.cs
+++ b/ColorCode.Core/Parsing/LanguageParser.cs
@@ -12,14 +12,26 @@ public class LanguageParser : ILanguageParser
     {
         private readonly ILanguageCompiler languageCompiler;
         private readonly ILanguageRepository languageRepository;
+        private readonly double defaultParseTimeoutSec = 1;
 
         public LanguageParser(ILanguageCompiler languageCompiler,
-                              ILanguageRepository languageRepository)
+                              ILanguageRepository languageRepository,
+                              double defaultParseTimeoutSec)
         {
             this.languageCompiler = languageCompiler;
             this.languageRepository = languageRepository;
+            this.defaultParseTimeoutSec = defaultParseTimeoutSec;
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Formats the specified text using the rules defined by the specified language. 
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="sourceCode">The text to parse</param>
+        /// <param name="language">The language used to define the syntax highlighting rules</param>
+        /// <param name="parseHandler">Called after parsing is complete</param>
+        /// <exception cref="System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegexMatchTimeoutException">
+        /// Thrown if parsing takes longer than the default specified duration
+        /// </exception>
         public void Parse(string sourceCode,
                           ILanguage language,
                           Action<string, IList<Scope>> parseHandler)
@@ -27,7 +39,7 @@ public void Parse(string sourceCode,
             if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(sourceCode))
                 return;
 
-            CompiledLanguage compiledLanguage = languageCompiler.Compile(language);
+            CompiledLanguage compiledLanguage = languageCompiler.Compile(language, defaultParseTimeoutSec);
 
             Parse(sourceCode, compiledLanguage, parseHandler);
         }
@@ -157,7 +169,7 @@ private void AppendCapturedStylesForNestedLanguage(Capture regexCapture,
                 throw new InvalidOperationException("The nested language was not found in the language repository.");
             else
             {
-                CompiledLanguage nestedCompiledLanguage = languageCompiler.Compile(nestedLanguage);
+                CompiledLanguage nestedCompiledLanguage = languageCompiler.Compile(nestedLanguage, defaultParseTimeoutSec);
 
                 Match regexMatch = nestedCompiledLanguage.Regex.Match(regexCapture.Value, 0, regexCapture.Value.Length);