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# preform

«preform» in Mova's school dictionary: **an object that has been partly shaped before its final…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a preform, preforms); verb (preform, preforms, preformed, preforming — rare)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (technical) A preform is an object that has been partly shaped before its final shape, such as the small plastic tube that is blown up into a drinks bottle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#m1)

2) (verb, rare) To preform is to shape something beforehand. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In design and technology lessons, plastic bottles start as preforms that are heated and blown into moulds. In ordinary spelling it is often a mistake for «perform». Phrases: a bottle preform.

### examples

- Plastic bottles start as small preforms. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#x1)
- The machine heats the preform and blows it into a bottle. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#x2)
- We looked at a preform in technology class. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#x3)
- The preform looks like a thick test tube. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#x4)
- Glass fibre is pulled from a preform. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#x5)
- A preform is heated until it is soft. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#x6)

### note

A trap: «preform» (shape beforehand) is NOT «perform» (act, sing, do). Most of the time you want «perform». Pre- means «before».

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «preform» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.