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preliminary

Definition of preliminary

preceding or done in preparation for something fuller or more important:a preliminary draft the discussions were seen as preliminary to the policy paper

a preliminary action or event:the bombardment was resumed as a preliminary to an infantry attack
(preliminaries) business or talk, especially of a formulaic or polite nature, taking place before an action or event:she began speaking, without preliminaries
a preliminary round in a sporting competition.
(preliminaries) the prelims of a text.

Phrases

mid 17th century: from modern Latin praeliminaris or French préliminaire, from Latin prae 'before' + limen, limin- 'threshold'

Definition of preliminary in the US English dictionary

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