<B>premise, </B>noun, verb, <B>-ised,</B> <B>-ising.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>(Logic.) a statement assumed to be true and used to draw a conclusion. (Example:) Major premise: Children should go to school. Minor premise: He is a child. Conclusion: He should go to school. <DD><B> 2. </B>any assumption or presupposition; postulate. <BR> <I>Ex. Every premise on which our democracy is based depends on a prompt and fair system of justice (Robert P. Patterson, Jr.).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to set forth as an introduction or explanation; mention beforehand. <BR> <I>Ex. Having premised these circumstances, I will now let the nervous gentleman proceed with his stories (Washington Irving).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to have as a premise; base or imply beforehand; presuppose; postulate. <BR> <I>Ex. The original American dream ... was premised not specifically on materialism but on a broad humanism (Charles A. Reich).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to make a premise. <BR><I>expr. <B>premises,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>a house or building with its grounds. </I> <I>Ex. Each had entered the Brink's premises several times at night to study the layout (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a piece or tract of land. <DD><B> c. </B>(Law.) things mentioned previously, such as the names of the parties concerned, a description of the property, the price, grounds for complaint, etc.. <BR> <I>Ex. The court having considered the premises are of the opinion ... (Bloomfield's American Law Reports).</I> <DD><B> d. </B>(Law.) the property forming the subject of a document. <BR> <I>Ex. Alice Higgins devised the premises, being a term for 999 years, to trustees, in trust to herself for life, remainder to H. Higgins, her son, and Mary, his wife (William Cruise).</I> </DL>
<B>premium, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ums,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a reward, especially given as an incentive to buy; prize. <BR> <I>Ex. Some magazines give premiums for obtaining new subscriptions.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>something more than the ordinary price or wages. <BR> <I>Ex. Mr. Brown has to pay 6 per cent interest on his loan, and also a premium of two hundred dollars.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>the amount of money paid for insurance. <BR> <I>Ex. He pays premiums on his life insurance four times a year.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>the excess value of one form of money over another of the same nominal value, as of gold or silver coins over paper currency. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Figurative.) an unusual or unfair value. <BR> <I>Ex. Most parents put a high premium on neatness and punctuality. Giving money to beggars may put a premium on idleness.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>a fee paid for instruction in some occupation. <DD><I>adj. </I> of a higher grade or quality. <BR> <I>Ex. premium gasoline. A new low profile nylon cord premium tire ... will give up to 40 per cent more mileage (Wall Street Journal).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>at a premium,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>at more than the usual value or price. </I> <I>Ex. ... entitled to extra seats for every football game, which could be sold to lesser fry at a handsome premium (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) in high esteem; very valuable; much wanted. <BR> <I>Ex. John Lyon put their charms at a premium (Harrovian).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="premiumpay">
<B>premium pay,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> wages at more than the basic rate for overtime work or for work on holidays or weekends. <BR> <I>Ex. The union retains six paid holidays, with provision for premium pay if a worker was required to work on those days (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="premix">
<B>premix, </B>noun, adjective, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> any product mixed beforehand. <BR> <I>Ex. Bottlers like the premix because it gives them complete quality control over the product (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of a premix. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to prepare by mixing beforehand. </DL>
<A NAME="premolar">
<B>premolar, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>one of the permanent teeth between the canine teeth and the molars; bicuspid. <DD><B> 2. </B>one of the molars of the milk teeth, preceding the permanent molars. <DD><I>adj. </I> of the premolars. </DL>
<A NAME="premonish">
<B>premonish, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to advise; caution; forewarn. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to give warning beforehand. </DL>
<A NAME="premonition">
<B>premonition, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a notification or warning of what is to come; forewarning. <BR> <I>Ex. a vague premonition of disaster.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="premonitorily">
<B>premonitorily, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> by way of premonition. </DL>
<B>Premonstratensian, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with a Roman Catholic religious order founded by Saint Norbert at Premontre, near Laon, France, in 1120. <DD><I>noun </I> a member of the Premonstratensian order; white canon. </DL>
<A NAME="premorse">
<B>premorse, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Botany.) having the end abruptly truncate, as if bitten or broken off, as certain roots. </DL>
<A NAME="premundane">
<B>premundane, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> existing or occurring before the creation of the world; antemundane. </DL>
<A NAME="prenatal">
<B>prenatal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>before childbirth. <BR> <I>Ex. A woman soon to have a baby requires prenatal care.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>occurring before birth. <BR> <I>Ex. prenatal damage to the skull.</I> adv. <B>prenatally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="prenomen">
<B>prenomen, </B>noun, pl. <B>-nomens</B> or <B>-nomina.</B> <B>=praenomen.</B></DL>
<A NAME="prenominate">
<B>prenominate, </B>adjective, verb, <B>-nated,</B> <B>-nating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Obsolete.) <DD><I>adj. </I> named before; named above. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to name beforehand; mention or specify in advance. </DL>
<A NAME="prenotion">
<B>prenotion, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a previous notion; preconceived idea; preconception. </DL>
<A NAME="prentice">
<B>prentice, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic.) <DD><I>noun </I> <B>=apprentice.</B> <DD><I>adj. </I> of or like an apprentice; inexperienced; unskilled. <BR> <I>Ex. one's prentice years.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prenuclear">
<B>prenuclear, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>before the age of nuclear weapons. <BR> <I>Ex. In earlier, prenuclear times, American Presidents responded to such depredations with fleets, Marines, and righteous cannon fire--as when Thomas Jefferson dispatched U.S. frigates under Stephen Decatur to clean out the Barbary pirates who menaced American trade in the Mediterranean (Time).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>lacking a visible nucleus. <BR> <I>Ex. These other organisms have cells with nuclei and specialized organelles or specialized intracellular structures; they are called eukaryotic (truly nucleated) whereas bacteria and blue-green algae are prokaryotic (prenuclear) (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prenuptial">
<B>prenuptial, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> before marriage; antenuptial. <BR> <I>Ex. a prenuptial agreement.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="preoccupancy">
<B>preoccupancy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the fact of occupying previously; earlier occupancy. </DL>
<A NAME="preoccupation">
<B>preoccupation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of preoccupying. <DD><B> 2. </B>the condition of being preoccupied; absorption. </DL>
<A NAME="preoccupied">
<B>preoccupied, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>absorbed in thought; engrossed; abstracted. <BR> <I>Ex. That preoccupied reader didn't hear the telephone ring.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>occupied previously. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Biology.) (of a generic or specific name) already used for something else and therefore unavailable as a name for another group. </DL>
<A NAME="preoccupy">
<B>preoccupy, </B>transitive verb, <B>-pied,</B> <B>-pying.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to take up all the attention of; absorb. <BR> <I>Ex. The question of getting to New York preoccupied her mind.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to occupy beforehand; take possession of before others. <BR> <I>Ex. Our favorite seats had been preoccupied.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) to prepossess; bias. </DL>
<A NAME="preon">
<B>preon, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Nuclear Physics.) any of various hypothetical constituents of a quark or a lepton that determines its particular character. <BR> <I>Ex. The rationale for the preon model begins with the observation that every quark and lepton can be identified unambiguously by listing just three of its properties: electric charge, color, and generation number (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="preoperative">
<B>preoperative, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> occurring before a surgical operation. <BR> <I>Ex. preoperative treatment.</I> adv. <B>preoperatively.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="preoral">
<B>preoral, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Zoology.) situated in front of the mouth. adv. <B>preorally.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="preordain">
<B>preordain, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to decide or settle beforehand; foreordain. </DL>
<A NAME="preordination">
<B>preordination, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act of preordaining or condition of being preordained. </DL>
<A NAME="prep">
<B>prep, </B>adjective, verb, <B>prepped,</B> <B>prepping,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> (Informal.) preparatory. <BR> <I>Ex. a good prep course in business English.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>(U.S. Informal.) to attend preparatory school. <BR> <I>Ex. they went to high schools instead of prepping (Harper's).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) to study; prepare. <BR> <I>Ex. She prepped for the real thing in a succession of out-of-town productions, from Munich, Germany to Pocatello, Idaho (Time).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> (U.S. Informal.) to prepare. <BR> <I>Ex. preparing a part in the school play.</I> <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>Often, <B>Prep.</B> a preparatory school. <BR> <I>Ex. He goes to Poly Prep.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Informal.) preparation of lessons; homework. <BR> <I>Ex. It is necessary to devote the long winter evenings to long weary hours of prep (Punch).</I> </DL>
