<B>precious, </B>adjective, adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>having great value; worth much; valuable; of great importance. Gold, silver, and platinum are often called the precious metals. <BR> <I>Ex. They were folk to whom sleep was precious (John Galsworthy).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>much loved; dear. <BR> <I>Ex. a precious child.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>too nice; overrefined. <BR> <I>Ex. precious language. His poetry is flowery, effeminate, almost precious in tone.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Informal.) very great. <BR> <I>Ex. He's put things in a precious mess!</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>of great moral or spiritual worth. <BR> <I>Ex. the precious blood of Christ (I Peter 1:19).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>choice; fine. <BR> <I>Ex. Did you ever see such a precious set of villians? (Frederick Marryat).</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>gross; arrant. <BR> <I>Ex. Here, Mr. Speaker, is a precious mockery (Edmund Burke).</I> <DD><I>adv. </I> (Informal.) very; extremely. <BR> <I>Ex. precious little money. I'll take precious good care never to sing in a theatre again (George Du Maurier).</I> noun <B>preciousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="preciouscoral">
<B>precious coral,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a species of coral with a hard internal skeleton of a red, rose, or pink color, used for jewelry and ornaments; red coral. Precious coral grows in bushlike formations in the Mediterranean Sea and the Sea of Japan. </DL>
<A NAME="preciousgarnet">
<B>precious garnet,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a variety of garnet sometimes used as a gem; pyrope. </DL>
<A NAME="preciousstone">
<B>precious stone,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a jewel; gem. <BR> <I>Ex. Diamonds, rubies, and sapphires are precious stones.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="precipe">
<B>precipe, </B>noun. <B>=praecipe.</B></DL>
<A NAME="precipice">
<B>precipice, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a very steep cliff or slope; cliff, crag, or steep mountainside. <BR> <I>Ex. A few steps more, and I was standing on the very edge of a bank, a precipice not less than fifty feet deep (W. H. Hudson).</I> (SYN) escarpment. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a situation of great peril; critical position. <BR> <I>Ex. By giving the nation the feeling of hanging on a precipice, they succeeded in mobilizing public opinion behind them (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="precipitability">
<B>precipitability, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the quality of being precipitable. </DL>
<A NAME="precipitable">
<B>precipitable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be precipitated, as from solution. <BR> <I>Ex. The amount of precipitable water contained in the world's atmosphere is only equivalent to 1 in. of rainfall (J. D. Ovington).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="precipitance">
<B>precipitance, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> headlong haste; rashness. <BR> <I>Ex. The youth expects to force his way by genius, vigour, and precipitance (Samuel Johnson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="precipitancy">
<B>precipitancy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B> <B>=precipitance.</B></DL>
<A NAME="precipitant">
<B>precipitant, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>very sudden or abrupt. <DD><B> 2. </B>acting in a hasty or rash manner. <DD><B> 3. </B>falling or rushing headlong; directed straight downward. <BR> <I>Ex. Our men put the enemy to precipitant flight.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>falling to the bottom as a precipitate. <DD><I>noun </I> a substance that causes another substance in solution in a liquid to be separated out of solution as a solid. adv. <B>precipitantly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="precipitate">
<B>precipitate, </B>verb, <B>-tated,</B> <B>-tating,</B> adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to hasten the beginning of; bring about suddenly. <BR> <I>Ex. to precipitate a war, to precipitate an argument; ... the depression of the forties which had precipitated the events of '48 (Edmund Wilson).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to throw down, hurl, or plunge in a violent or sudden manner. <BR> <I>Ex. to precipitate a rock down a cliff, (Figurative.) to precipitate oneself into a struggle.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to separate (a substance) out from a solution as a solid. <BR> <I>Ex. The plate was prepared by the all but impossible process of precipitating silver chloride from solution (A. W. Haslett).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to condense (water vapor) from the air in the form of rain, dew, or snow. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to be deposited from solution as a solid. <DD><B> 2. </B>to be condensed as rain, dew, or snow. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) to rush headlong. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Obsolete.) to fall headlong. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>very hurried; sudden. <BR> <I>Ex. A cool breeze caused a precipitate drop in the temperature.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) with great haste and force; plunging or rushing; headlong. <BR> <I>Ex. the precipitate course of a river through a steep gorge.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>hasty; rash. <BR> <I>Ex. precipitate action.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a substance, usually crystalline, separated out from a solution as a solid. <DD><B> 2. </B>moisture condensed from vapor by cooling and deposited in drops as rain, dew, or the like. adv. <B>precipitately.</B> noun <B>precipitateness.</B> noun <B>precipitator.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="precipitatecopper">
<B>precipitate copper,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> copper obtained by leaching, from 60 to 90 per cent pure. </DL>
<A NAME="precipitation">
<B>precipitation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act or condition of precipitating; throwing down or falling headlong. <BR> <I>Ex. the tragic precipitation of the climbers over the side of the mountain.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the action of hastening or hurrying. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) the act or fact of bringing on suddenly. <BR> <I>Ex. the precipitation of a quarrel, the precipitation of war without warning.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) unwise or rash rapidity; sudden haste. <DD><B> 5a. </B>the process of separating a substance from a solution as a solid. <DD><B> b. </B>the substance separated out from a solution as a solid; precipitate. <DD><B> 6a. </B>the act or fact of depositing moisture in the form of rain, snow, sleet, ice, or hail. <BR> <I>Ex. In steppe lands and arid regions, evaporation is greater than precipitation (R. N. Elston).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>something that is precipitated, such as rain, dew, or snow. <DD><B> c. </B>the amount that is precipitated. <DD><B> 7. </B><B>=materialization </B>(in spiritualism). </DL>
<A NAME="precipitative">
<B>precipitative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with precipitation; tending to precipitate. </DL>
<A NAME="precipitin">
<B>precipitin, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an antibody formed in blood serum as a result of inoculating with a foreign protein; coagulin. When the antibody is brought into contact with its soluble antigen, a precipitate forms. </DL>
<A NAME="precipitous">
<B>precipitous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>like a precipice; very steep. <BR> <I>Ex. precipitous cliffs. Access was gained by precipitous stone steps carved into the walls of rock (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) hasty; rash. <DD><B> 3. </B>rushing headlong; very rapid. <BR> <I>Ex. The sweep Of some precipitous rivulet to the wave (Tennyson).</I> adv. <B>precipitously.</B> noun <B>precipitousness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="precis">
<B>precis, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cis.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a concise or abridged statement; abstract; summary. <BR> <I>Ex. Morton trotted up to the Capitol with the President's precis of the proposal to brief the Senate's leaders (Time).</I> (SYN) compendium. </DL>
<A NAME="precise">
<B>precise, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>exact; accurate; definite. <BR> <I>Ex. a precise instrument. The directions he gave us were so precise that we found our way easily. The precise sum was 34 cents. The essential criterion must always be that the information sought is reducible to a precise formula (Anthony H. Richmond).</I> (SYN) correct. <DD><B> 2. </B>careful; scrupulous; fastidious. <BR> <I>Ex. precise handwriting. She was precise in her manners.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>strict; particular. <BR> <I>Ex. We had precise orders to come home by nine o'clock.</I> adv. <B>precisely.</B> noun <B>preciseness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="precisian">
<B>precisian, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who is rigidly precise in the observance of rules or forms. <BR> <I>Ex. A profane person calls a man of piety a precisian (Isaac Watts).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who is precise in religious observance, such as an English Puritan of the 1500's and 1600's. </DL>
<A NAME="precisianism">
<B>precisianism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the quality or state of being a precisian. <DD><B> 2. </B>the doctrine or conduct of precisians. </DL>
<A NAME="precision">
<B>precision, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the fact or condition of being precise; accuracy; being exact; definiteness. <BR> <I>Ex. to speak with precision, the precision of a machine. A weapon of precision is one that can be delivered precisely where it is wanted (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> (SYN) correctness, preciseness, exactness. <DD><B> 2. </B>careful exactness. <BR> <I>Ex. to dress with precision.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> having to do with or characterized by precision. <BR> <I>Ex. precision instruments. The rendezvous was an extraordinary demonstration of precision control (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="precisionbombing">
<B>precision bombing,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the dropping of bombs from an aircraft on a specific building, group of buildings, or other narrowly defined target, usually with the aid of a special bombsight or from a relatively low altitude. </DL>
<A NAME="precisionism">
<B>precisionism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the practice of precision; insistence on precision. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=purism </B>(def. 3). </DL>
<A NAME="precisionist">
<B>precisionist, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a person who insists on or affects precision, especially in expression or language; purist. <DD><I>adj. </I> of precisionism or the precisionists. </DL>
<A NAME="preclear">
<B>preclear, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to clear in advance; certify as safe beforehand. <BR> <I>Ex. legislation giving FDA broad authority to preclear all types of medical devices (Science News).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="preclinical">
<B>preclinical, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>coming or occurring before clinical use. <BR> <I>Ex. a preclinical test of a new drug.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>preceding or preparing for clinical studies or aspects of medicine. <BR> <I>Ex. preclinical students.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="preclude">
<B>preclude, </B>transitive verb, <B>-cluded,</B> <B>-cluding.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to shut out; make impossible; prevent. <BR> <I>Ex. The heavy thunderstorm precluded our going to the beach. Constant vigilance precludes surprise.</I> (SYN) exclude, hinder. </DL>
