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# preliminary

«preliminary» in Mova's school dictionary: **coming before the main part and getting ready for it** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (preliminary); noun (a preliminary, preliminaries)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Preliminary means coming before the main part and getting ready for it. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preliminary/#m1)

2) A preliminary is a first step or early round, such as a heat in a competition. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preliminary/#m2)

3) (formal) Preliminaries are things done before the main business, such as greetings. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preliminary/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In science a preliminary test is a small first trial before the real experiment. In sport preliminary rounds decide who goes to the final. In formal exam voice: «preliminary results», «preliminary findings». Phrases: «preliminary round», «preliminary results», «without preliminaries».

### examples

- We did a preliminary test before the real experiment. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preliminary/#x1)
- Our team won the preliminary round. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preliminary/#x2)
- The preliminary results look good. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preliminary/#x3)
- After the preliminaries, the meeting began. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preliminary/#x4)
- A preliminary drawing helps you plan a picture. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preliminary/#x5)
- (formal) Preliminary findings indicate an increase in rainfall. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preliminary/#x6)
- He skipped the preliminaries and got straight to the point. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preliminary/#x7)
- The preliminary heats are in the morning. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preliminary/#x8)
- Some stories start off without any preliminary formula, or with a simple "Well, there was once a ----". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preliminary/#x9)

### note

Spelling: pre-lim-in-ar-y (5 syllables). Plural noun: preliminaries. Preliminary results may change; they are not final.

### Trees and pragmatics

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