tor or a lawyer. 4. iv. to rehearse. 5. tv. to work at a skill over and over in order to become better at it. 6. tv. to do something; to make a habit of something. 7. tv. to work in medicine or law. → out of practice practice what you preach to do what you advise other people to do. prairie ["prEr i] n. a very large area of land that is covered with differ- ent kinds of grasses and other plants. praise ["prez] 1. n. saying that someone or something is good; the use of words to express satisfac- tion or a favorable judgment. (Sin- gular or plural with the same meaning, but not countable.) 2. tv. to express satisfaction with some- one or something; to talk about the good things someone or some- thing does or how good someone or something is. 3. tv. to worship someone or God with words or songs. → damn someone or something with faint praise → sing someone’s praises prank ["prANk] n. a trick or joke that is played on someone. prankster ["prANk st#] n. someone who plays a trick or joke on some- one. pray ["pre] 1. iv. to give thanks to God; to say a prayer to God; to ask God or some religious being or figure for something. 2. tv. to pray as in Q, asking that something will happen the way one wants. (The object is a clause with that U.) pray for something to ask God for something. prayer ["prEr] 1. n. communication with God or some other religious being or figure. 2. n. the words one uses when worshiping or pray- ing to God. → in someone’s prayers preach ["pritS] 1. iv. to give a ser- mon; to talk about something reli- gious. 2. tv. to deliver a sermon; to deliver a particular message through a sermon. (The object can be a clause with that U.) → practice what you preach preacher ["pritS #] n. someone who preaches; the leader of a church; a minister. (Less formal than minister.) precious ["prES @s] 1. adj. very valuable; worth a lot of money. (Adv: preciously.) 2. adj. very much loved; very dear to someone; cherished. (Figurative on Q. Adv: preciously.) 3. adj. charming and cute. (Adv: preciously.) precious few and precious little very few; very little. (Informal.) precious little Go to precious few. precise [prI "saIs] adj. exact; care- fully and accurately detailed. (Adv: precisely.) precision [prI "sI Z@n] n. accuracy; the quality of being precise; doing something precisely. (No plural.) predict [prI "dIkt] tv. to say that something is going to happen before it happens; to prophesy that something will happen. (The object can be a clause with that U.) practice what you preach 446 07 7/23/03 8:50 AM Page 446 TLFeBOOK prediction [prI "dIk S@n] n. a state- ment made about something that is going to happen in the future; a prophecy. preface ["prEf Is] 1. n. an introduc- tion to a speech or to something that is written. 2. tv. to begin a speech or written piece with an introduction. prefer [prI "f#] tv. to like someone or something better than one likes someone or something else. (The object can be a clause with that U.) prefer to do something to want to do something more than one wants to do something else; to like to do one thing more than doing another thing. preferable ["prEf @ r@ b@l] adj. more preferred; more desirable. (Adv: preferably.) preference ["prEf @ r@ns] 1. n. spe- cial attention that is given to cer- tain people or things; favor. (No plural.) 2. n. someone or some- thing that is preferred over some- one or something else. prefix ["pri fIks] n. a letter or a group of letters at the beginning of a word that usually changes the meaning of the word. pregnant ["prEg n@nt] adj. [of a woman or female creature] carry- ing developing offspring within. prehistoric [pri hI "stor Ik] adj. happening before history was first recorded. (Adv: prehistorically [ Ik li].) prejudice ["prEdZ @ dIs] 1. n. opin- ion formed about someone or something before learning all the facts. (Plural only for types and instances.) 2. tv. to cause someone to have Q. prelude ["pre lud] n. an introduc- tion, especially a short piece of music that comes before a longer work of music. prelude to something an act or event that comes before and sig- nals another act or event. premier [prI "mIr] 1. adj. best; most respected. (Prenominal only.) 2. n. the prime minister of a country. premiere [prI "mIr] 1. n. the first performance or presentation of a play, film, symphony, etc. 2. iv. [for a play, film, symphony, etc.] to be performed for the first time. premium ["prim i @m] 1. n. a regu- lar payment to an insurance com- pany for some kind of protection. 2. n. an additional cost in addition to the regular cost. 3. n. a small prize or reward that is given to someone to buy something or use a service. 4. adj. of high quality; costing more; of greater value. → at a premium prenominal [pri "nam @ n@l] adj. [of an adjective] occurring before the noun it modifies. (Adv: prenominally.) prep. an abbreviation of preposition. prepaid [pri "ped] past tense and past participle of prepay. prepare [prI "pEr] 1. tv. to make something ready for someone or something; to make something ready for use. 2. iv. to make one- self ready to do something. prepare 447 07 7/23/03 8:50 AM Page 447 TLFeBOOK prepay [pri "pe] tv., irreg. to pay some amount before it is due; to pay for something in advance; to pay for something before one receives it. (Past tense and past participle: prepaid.) preposition [prEp @ "zI S@n] n. a word that is used to show the rela- tionship of one word or phrase to another word or phrase. (Abbrevi- ated prep. here.) preschool ["pri skul] n. a school for small children before they are old enough to go to kindergarten. prescribe [prI "skraIb] 1. tv. [for a physician] to recommend or order that a certain medication be sold to and taken by a patient. 2. tv. [for a doctor] to advise a patient to do something to become or stay healthy. (The object can be a clause with that U.) 3. tv. to state something as a law; to establish something as a law. (The object can be a clause with that U.) prescription [prI "skrIp S@n] 1. n. ordering or prescribing some- thing, especially medicine or med- ical treatment. 2. n. an order to do something or take medicine, espe- cially a written order for medicine given to a patient by a doctor. 3. n. the actual medicine that is ordered by W. → refill a prescription presence ["prEz @ns] 1. n. the state of being present; being in the same place as someone or something else. (No plural.) 2. n. the power or influence one has in a group of people or in an institution. 3. n. something that can be felt or sensed but not seen, such as a spirit. → grace someone or something with one’s presence → have the presence of mind to do something present 1. ["prEz @nt] adj. being in the same room or place as some- one or something else; not absent. 2. ["prEz @nt] adj. now; at this time; happening now. (Adv: presently.) 3. ["prEz @nt] n. now; this time; this moment in time. (No plural.) 4. ["prEz @nt] n. a gift; something that is given to some- one else. 5. ["prEz @nt] n. the state of a verb that indicates that some- thing is happening now. (Short for present tense.) 6. [prI "zEnt] tv. to give something to someone, espe- cially as part of a ceremony. 7. [prI "zEnt] tv. to make some- thing available for the public to see; to bring something to some- one’s attention. 8. [prI "zEnt] tv. to introduce someone to someone else. present tense ["prEz @nt "tEns] n. a verb tense showing that something is happening now, at the present time. (No plural. Can be short- ened to present.) presentation [prEz @n "te S@n] 1. n. the way that something is shown to other people; the manner or style in which something is shown to other people. (No plural.) 2. n. a session of showing or explaining something to other people. 3. n. the ceremony of giving something to someone else. present-day ["prEz @nt "de] adj. current; happening now; of or about the present time. prepay 448 07 7/23/03 8:50 AM Page 448 TLFeBOOK presently ["prEz @nt li] 1. adv. now; at this time. 2. adv. soon. (For- mal.) preservation [prE z# "ve S@n] n. the process of preserving some- thing; keeping something safe or in good condition. (No plural.) preserve [prI "z#v] 1. tv. to keep someone or something alive, healthy, safe, or in good condition. 2. tv. to do something or add something to something to keep it from spoiling or decaying. 3. n. an area of land where plants and ani- mals are protected. → life preserver preserves n. fruit cooked in sugar and sealed in a jar. (Treated as plu- ral, but not countable.) preside [prI "zaId] iv. to be in charge of a meeting or a business; to be in control. preside over something to oversee something, such as a meeting. president ["prEz @ d@nt] 1. n. the leader of the government of a republic, including the leader of the government of the United States of America. 2. n. the leader or head officer of an organization, club, company, university, etc. 3. n. the office and position of power occupied by Q or W. → vice president presidential [prEz @ "dEn S@l] adj. of or about a president; associated with a president. (Adv: presiden- tially.) press ["prEs] 1. n. a machine that prints letters and pictures on paper for newspapers, magazines, books, etc. (Short for printing press. ) 2. n. the coverage of an action or event by newspapers and other media. (No plural.) 3. tv. to push something against something else; to push something with force; to weigh down heavily on some- thing. 4. tv. to move a hot iron over wrinkled clothing or fabric in order to make it smooth. 5. iv. to push against something else; to push with force; to weigh down heavily; to push forward. → printing press the press n. newspapers and, some- times, radio and television; the mass media. (No plural. Treated as singular.) press against someone or some- thing to push or bear upon some- one or something. press down on someone or some- thing to push down on someone or something. press on something to push or depress something, such as a but- ton, catch, snap, etc. press one’s luck Go to push one’s luck. press someone to the wall Go to push someone to the wall. press something against someone or something to push or force something against someone or something. press something in(to something ) 1. to force something into some- thing, such as a mold. 2. to force or drive something into the sur- face of something. press something on(to something ) to put pressure on something and press something on(to something) 449 07 7/23/03 8:50 AM Page 449 TLFeBOOK cause it to stick to the surface of something. press something out (of some- thing ) to squeeze something out of something by applying pressure. press (up)on someone or some- thing to put pressure on someone or something. pressure ["prES #] 1. n. the effect of a force or a weight that is pushed against someone or some- thing. (No plural.) 2. n. strong influence; strong persuasion. (Fig- urative on Q.) → under (some) pressure presume (up)on someone or something to take unwelcome advantage of someone or some- thing. pretend [prI "tEnd] 1. iv. to act [as if something were so]. 2. iv. to act as if one were doing something; to try to look as if one were doing something. 3. tv. to act as if some- thing were so; to play by acting as if something were so. (The object is a clause with that U.) pretty ["prIt i] 1. adj. attractive; pleasing; beautiful. (Adv: prettily. Comp: prettier; sup: prettiest.) 2. adv. rather; quite; very. → (as) pretty as a picture → cost a pretty penny pretzel ["prEt s@l] n. a salted, baked stick of bread, often twisted in the shape of a loose knot. prevail (up)on someone or some- thing (to do something ) to appeal to someone or a group to do something. prevent someone from doing something [prI "vEnt ] not to allow someone to do something; to keep someone from doing something. preventable [prI "vEnt @ b@l] adj. able to be prevented. (Adv: pre- ventably.) prevention [prI "vEn S@n] n. pre- venting something. (No plural.) preview ["pri vju] 1. n. an oppor- tunity to see something before it is available to the public. 2. iv. [for something] to be shown as Q. 3. tv. to watch or listen to some- thing as Q. previous ["pri vi @s] adj. earlier; happening before something else; coming before. (Adv: previously.) prey ["pre] 1. n. an animal that is hunted, killed, or eaten by another animal. (No plural. Compare this with pray.) 2. n. someone who is a victim of someone else. (No plu- ral. Figurative on Q.) → bird of prey prey on some creature to hunt and kill certain animals for food. prey (up)on someone or something to take advantage of someone or something. price ["praIs] 1. n. the amount of money that something costs; the amount of money that something will be sold for. 2. tv. to determine how much something will cost; to set the amount of money that something will cost. → have a price on one’s head → quote a price prick up one’s ears to listen more closely. pride ["praId] 1. n. the pleasure that one feels when one does press something out (of something) 450 07 7/23/03 8:50 AM Page 450 TLFeBOOK something well; the feeling one has when one does something good. (No plural.) 2. n. someone or something for which one has Q. (No plural.) 3. n. a good opinion of oneself; too high an opinion of oneself. (No plural.) → take pride in something priest ["prist] n. someone who is trained to perform religious duties. (In the United States, espe- cially in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox Catholic, and Episcopal churches.) prim ["prIm] adj. very proper; very formal; very exact; very precise; easily shocked by rude or rough behavior. (Adv: primly. Comp: primmer; sup: primmest.) primary ["praI mEr i] 1. adj. the most important; chief; main; prin- cipal. (Adv: primarily [ praI "mEr @ li ].) 2. n. an election that is held to determine who will represent a political party in the election for a political office. primary color ["praI mEr i "k^l #] n. one of the basic colors: red, blue, and yellow. (Other colors can be made by mixing two or three of these together.) primary school ["praI mEr I "skul] n. a school having only the earliest grades. prime ["praIm] 1. adj. [of a state or condition] best or excellent; of the highest quality. 2. adj. most important; chief; first in time, order, or importance. 3. tv. to add water or liquid to a pump to replace the air that is inside so that the pump is able to draw fluid. 4. tv. to make someone or some- thing ready for something. 5. tv. to cover a surface with primer before painting it. → in one’s or its prime → in the prime of life prime mover the force that sets something going; someone or something that starts something off. primer ["praIm #] n. a liquid that is spread over wood before one cov- ers the wood with paint. (Plural only for types and instances.) primitive ["prIm @ tIv] 1. adj. early in the development of something; early in the history of humans. (Adv: primitively.) 2. adj. very simple; not complicated. (Adv: primitively.) primp ["prImp] iv. to dress and get ready for a social event very care- fully. prince ["prIns] 1. n. the son or grandson of a king or a queen. 2. n. the husband of a woman who inherits the throne and becomes queen. princely ["prIns li] 1. adj. like a prince; having great charm and manners. 2. adj. elegant; refined; noble. (Figurative on Q.) princess ["prIns Es] 1. n. the daughter or granddaughter of a king or queen. 2. n. the wife of a prince. principal ["prIns @ p@l] 1. n. the head of an elementary, middle, or high school. (Compare this with principle.) 2. n. an amount of bor- rowed money on which the bor- rower must pay interest. 3. n. the most important or major person principal 451 07 7/23/03 8:50 AM Page 451 TLFeBOOK in a group. 4. adj. main; chief; pri- mary; most important. (Adv: prin- cipally [ "prIns @ pli].) principle ["prIns @ p@l] 1. n. obedi- ence to W and E; honor. (No plu- ral. Compare this with principal.) 2. n. a general or fundamental law or rule. 3. n. a rule of behavior or conduct. print ["prInt] 1. tv. to make letters of the alphabet by hand so that each letter is separate. 2. tv. to put words or pictures on a blank piece of paper, one page at a time, using some kind of machine. 3. tv. to publish a book, magazine, or newspaper using a printing press or a computer printer. 4. tv. to publish something that is written in a book, newspaper, magazine, etc. 5. tv. to make a photograph from film. 6. tv. to cause a com- puter to print something as in W. 7. iv. to make letters of the alpha- bet so that each letter is separate. 8. iv. to make books, magazines, newspapers, etc., with a printing press. 9. iv. [for a computer printer] to operate as in W. 10. n. fabric that has a pattern on it. 11. n. a photograph that is made from film; a photograph. 12. n. a fingerprint. → in print → out of print → small print print something out 1. to write something out by drawing letters. 2. to use a computer printer to print something. print something up to set some- thing in type and print it; to print something by any process. printer ["prIn t#] 1. n. a business or person that prints books, maga- zines, and other materials. 2. n. a machine that causes computer information to be put onto paper. printing ["prIn tIN] 1. n. letters or words that are printed by hand; letters that are put on paper so that the letters are separate and distinct. (No plural.) 2. n. letters that are put on a page by a press or a computer. (No plural.) 3. n. all the copies of a book printed by machine at one time. printing press ["prIn tIN "prEs] n. a machine used to print text and pictures on paper. (Can be short- ened to press.) printout ["prInt aUt] n. a copy of information from a computer, printed on paper. prison ["prIz @n] 1. n. a building that criminals are kept in; a large jail. 2. n. a place where someone is not allowed to leave; a place where someone has no freedom. (Figura- tive on Q.) prisoner ["prIz n#] 1. n. someone who is kept in a prison. 2. n. someone or a creature that is not free to go. (Figurative on Q.) pristine ["prIs tin] adj. as fresh and clean as when it was new; spotless. (Adv: pristinely.) privacy ["praIv @ si] n. a state of being away from other people or away from the attention of the public. (No plural.) → an invasion of privacy private ["praIv It] 1. adj. not shared among everyone; meant only for a small number of people; principle 452 07 7/23/03 8:50 AM Page 452 TLFeBOOK not public. (Adv: privately.) 2. adj. individual; concerning only one person. (Adv: privately.) 3. adj. secluded; isolated; quiet; away from other people. (Adv: privately.) 4. adj. not owned, con- trolled, or managed by the govern- ment. (Adv: privately.) privilege ["prIv (@) lIdZ] n. special rights; special and honored status. (Plural only for types and instances.) privy to something ["priv i ] uniquely knowledgeable about something. prize ["praIz] 1. n. an award that is given to a winner; an award that is given to someone who does well in a competition. 2. tv. to consider something to be worth very much; to place a great value on some- thing. pro ["pro] n. a professional; having great skill or training. (Plural ends in -s.) probable ["prab @ b@l] adj. having a great chance of happening; likely to happen; likely to be true. (Adv: probably.) probably ["prab @ bli] adv. very likely; likely to happen or likely to be true. probation [pro "be S@n] 1. n. a situ- ation where an offender remains out of jail and just under observa- tion as long as no further crimes are committed. (No plural form.) 2. n. a trial period. (Figurative on Q. No plural form.) → on probation probe ["prob] 1. n. a complete examination or detailed search for facts. 2. n. a thin rod with a rounded end that is used to exam- ine the inside of a hole, wound, or cavity. 3. n. a rocket or satellite that is sent into space to relay information about space or other planets to scientists on earth. 4. tv. to examine a hole, wound, or cav- ity, using W or a similar object. 5. iv. to examine; to search. problem ["prab l@m] 1. n. a ques- tion that must be answered; a dif- ficulty. 2. n. a question put forward for solving, as in a school exercise or test. 3. adj. difficult to deal with; difficult to work with; causing difficulty. procedure [pr@ "si dZ#] n. the way that something is done; the way that a process is done; a method. proceed [pr@ "sid] iv. to begin to do something. proceeds ["pro sidz] n. money that is collected or received from someone or something. (Treated as plural, but not countable.) process ["pra sEs] 1. n. a series of actions; a set of procedures used to do, make, achieve, prepare, or develop something. 2. tv. to do a series of actions to something; to prepare, achieve, or develop some- thing. proclaim [pr@ "klem] tv. to declare something officially; to make something public knowledge. (The object can be a clause with that U.) procure [pro "kjUr] tv. to get some- thing by work or effort. produce 1. ["pro dus] n. food or food products that are farmed or produce 453 07 7/23/03 8:50 AM Page 453 TLFeBOOK grown; fruits and vegetables. (No plural.) 2. [pr@ "dus] tv. to grow something; to create something. 3. [pr@ "dus] tv. to cause some- thing to be; to create a result. 4. [pr@ "dus] tv. to make some- thing from parts or materials. 5. [pr@ "dus] tv. to coordinate and organize the details involved in making or presenting a movie, play, or other performance. 6. [pr@ "dus] iv. to do what is expected or required, especially in terms of business goals. producer [pr@ "dus #] 1. n. some- one or something that produces something. 2. n. someone who coordinates and organizes the details involved in making or pre- senting a movie, television show, play, or other performance. product ["pra d@kt] 1. n. some- thing that is produced; something that is made, created, or grown. 2. n. someone or something that is the result of certain conditions; a result. 3. n. the number that is determined by multiplying two or more numbers together. production [pr@ "d^k S@n] 1. n. producing something; making something. (No plural.) 2. n. the amount of or rate of Q. (No plu- ral.) 3. n. a movie, television show, play, or other performance. profess [pr@ "fEs] tv. to declare something; to claim something. (The object can be a clause with that U.) profession [pr@ "fE S@n] 1. n. a job or career, especially one that requires education or training. 2. n. all or most of the people who work in a certain Q. professional [pr@ "fES @ n@l] 1. the adj. form of profession Q. (Adv: professionally.) 2. adj. showing the skill and standards of E. (Adv: professionally.) 3. n. someone who works in a profession. (Shortened to pro informally.) professor [pr@ "fEs #] n. someone who holds a faculty position in a university or college. (Also a term of address.) profile ["pro faIl] 1. n. a side view of someone or something, espe- cially of someone’s face. 2. n. a short description of someone or something. profit ["praf It] 1. n. the amount of money made by a person or busi- ness after all expenses are paid. 2. tv. to benefit someone or some- thing. profit from something to benefit from something. program ["pro grAm] 1. n. a broad- cast show, such as on radio or tele- vision. 2. n. a booklet provided to members of an audience, giving information about the perfor- mance. 3. n. a schedule of the parts of a performance. 4. n. a set of coded instructions given to a computer. programmer ["pro grAm #] n. someone who writes a computer program. progress 1. ["pra grEs] n. the movement made toward a result or goal. (No plural.) 2. ["pra grEs] n. the improvement that someone or something makes when moving producer 454 07 7/23/03 8:50 AM Page 454 TLFeBOOK toward a goal. (No plural.) 3. [pr@ "grEs] iv. to move forward; to advance. 4. [pr@ "grEs] iv. to develop; to become better. prohibit [pro "hIb It] tv. to forbid something. prohibition [pro @ "bI S@n] 1. n. forbidding or not allowing some- thing. (Plural only for types and instances.) 2. n. the period of time in U.S. history when it was illegal to make, sell, or transport alcohol. (Capitalized. No plural.) project 1. ["pra dZEkt] n. an assign- ment or task that must be planned, researched, and executed. 2. [pr@ "dZEkt ] tv. to cast a light onto something. 3. [pr@ "dZEkt] tv. to make one’s voice or words louder and carry farther. 4. [pr@ "dZEkt] tv. to forecast something; to esti- mate something. 5. [pr@ "dZEkt] iv. to be louder when speaking. 6. [pr@ "dZEkt] iv. to stick out; to extend from a surface. projection [pr@ "dZEk S@n] 1. n. something that sticks out or proj- ects. 2. n. a prediction; an estimate of a future state. projector [pr@ "dZEk t#] n. a machine that casts an image on a screen, wall, etc. (The image may have been recorded on film or dig- itally on tape.) prolong [pro "lON] tv. to cause something to last longer than it normally would; to lengthen the time it takes to do something. prominent ["pram @ n@nt] 1. adj. famous; well known; respected. (Adv: prominently.) 2. adj. notice- able; easy to see. (Adv: promi- nently.) promise ["pram Is] 1. n. a sign that someone will be successful or do good work. (No plural.) 2. n. a pledge to do something. 3. tv. to pledge to do something; to vow that one will do something. (The object is a clause with that U.) 4. tv. to cause someone to expect something. → give something a lick and a promise promise someone the moon Go to promise the moon (to someone ). promise the moon (to someone ) and promise someone the moon to make extravagant prom- ises to someone. promise to do something to make a promise that one will do some- thing. promote [pr@ "mot] 1. tv. to work for the acceptance of someone or something through advertising and other public contacts. 2. tv. to raise someone to a new and higher level in employment or schooling. promotion [pr@ "mo S@n] 1. n. the movement of someone to a higher level of employment or schooling. (Plural only for types and instances.) 2. n. advertising and other activity intended to sell something. (No plural.) prompt ["prampt] 1. adj. doing something, such as arriving, at the right time; on time. (Adv: promptly.) 2. tv. to encourage or cause someone to do something. 3. tv. to give someone a quiet reminder of what is to be said next. (Especially in stage perfor- prompt 455 07 7/23/03 8:50 AM Page 455 TLFeBOOK . form of profession Q. (Adv: professionally.) 2. adj. showing the skill and standards of E. (Adv: professionally.) 3. n. someone who works in a profession. (Shortened to pro informally.) professor. including the leader of the government of the United States of America. 2. n. the leader or head officer of an organization, club, company, university, etc. 3. n. the office and position of power occupied. to dress and get ready for a social event very care- fully. prince ["prIns] 1. n. the son or grandson of a king or a queen. 2. n. the husband of a woman who inherits the throne and becomes queen. princely