<B>prepotency, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>superior power or influence; predominance. <BR> <I>Ex. The "prepotency" of pain [is seen in] ... its ability to suffuse the entire field of consciousness with distress and to crowd out all other thoughts (Martin E. Spencer).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Genetics.) the marked power of one parent, variety, or strain, to transmit a special character or characters to the progeny. </DL>
<A NAME="prepotent">
<B>prepotent, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having greater power or influence than others; predominant. <BR> <I>Ex. An ambiguous, prepotent figure had come to disturb the ... jealously guarded balance of the English constitution (Lytton Strachey).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Genetics.) <DD><B> a. </B>of prepotency. <DD><B> b. </B>exhibiting prepotency. adv. <B>prepotently.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="preppie">
<B>preppie</B> or <B>preppy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-pies.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Slang.) a student or graduate of a preparatory school. <BR> <I>Ex. No longer believe that Harvard students are all rich preppies tracing their Harvard histories back almost as far as the Saltonstalls ... (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="preprandial">
<B>preprandial, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> preceding a dinner, banquet, or the like. <BR> <I>Ex. preprandial conversation. Fortifying himself with a preprandial dry martini (Saturday Review).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prepreg">
<B>prepreg, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a plastic or other synthetic material impregnated with the full complement of resin before it is molded. </DL>
<A NAME="preprimaryschool">
<B>preprimary school,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a school for very young children; a combination of nursery school and kindergarten. </DL>
<A NAME="preprint">
<B>preprint, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a printing in advance, especially a portion of a work issued before publication of the whole. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to print in advance of publication. </DL>
<A NAME="preprocess">
<B>preprocess, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to process beforehand. <BR> <I>Ex. to preprocess ore or timber.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="preprocessor">
<B>preprocessor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a device for preprocessing data. <BR> <I>Ex. ... preprocessors to check, edit, and compile programmes (Kenneth Owen).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="preprofessional">
<B>preprofessional, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or in preparation for a profession. </DL>
<A NAME="preprogram">
<B>preprogram, </B>transitive verb, <B>-grammed,</B> <B>-gramming</B> or <B>-gramed,</B> <B>-graming.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to program beforehand, especially for automatic control. <BR> <I>Ex. How does one reconcile the known malleability of behavior with a preprogrammed and rigidly "wired" nervous system? (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prepschool">
<B>prep school,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a preparatory school. </DL>
<A NAME="prepsychotic">
<B>prepsychotic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> showing indications of psychosis; occurring before or leading to psychosis. <BR> <I>Ex. prepsychotic subjects.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prepuberty">
<B>prepuberty, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the period of life just prior to puberty. </DL>
<A NAME="prepubescent">
<B>prepubescent, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with prepuberty; immature. <BR> <I>Ex. (Figurative.) It relies for its climax on an offstage sound effect of prepubescent ... humor (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prepuce">
<B>prepuce, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the fold of skin covering the end of the penis; foreskin. <DD><B> 2. </B>a similar fold of skin covering the end of the clitoris. </DL>
<A NAME="prepupa">
<B>prepupa, </B>noun, pl. <B>-pae,</B> <B>-pas.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the inactive stage before pupation in the development ofmany insects. <DD><B> 2. </B>the form of an insect in this stage. <BR> <I>Ex. We inject hemolymph from these prepupae into young larvae (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prepupal">
<B>prepupal, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of, having to do with, or in the form of a prepupa. </DL>
<A NAME="preputial">
<B>preputial, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with the prepuce. </DL>
<A NAME="prequark">
<B>prequark, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Nuclear Physics.) a hypothetical particle from which all quarks and leptons are made. <BR> <I>Ex. Each quark and lepton in the standard model would be accounted for as a combination of prequarks, just as each hadron can be explained as a combination of quarks (H. Harari).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prequel">
<B>prequel, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a book, motion picture, or play based on another, but dealing with earlier events than those described in the original work. <BR> <I>Ex. Old genres were perpetuated in sequels, imitations, and "prequels" (D. Robinson).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="preraphaelite">
<B>Pre-Raphaelite, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>any Italian painter preceding Raphael. <DD><B> 2. </B>one of a group of English artists and poets formed in 1848, including John Everett Millais and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, who aimed to work in the spirit that prevailed before the time of Raphael. <DD><B> 3. </B>any modern artist or writer having similar aims or methods. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>existing before Raphael. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or belonging to the Pre-Raphaelites. <BR> <I>Ex. Of the many forces which exerted an influence upon the young Picasso, ... one was the PreRaphaelite movement (Listener).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>characteristic of or resembling the Pre-Raphaelites or their principles and style. </DL>
<A NAME="preraphaelitism">
<B>Pre-Raphaelitism, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the style of painting in vogue from the time of Giotto to that of Raphael. <DD><B> 2. </B>the revival of this style by the Pre-Raphaelites. </DL>
<A NAME="prerecord">
<B>prerecord, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to record in advance for later use. <BR> <I>Ex. to prerecord a television program on videotape.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prerequisite">
<B>prerequisite, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> something required beforehand. <BR> <I>Ex. The completion of a high-school course is the usual prerequisite to college work.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> required beforehand. </DL>
<A NAME="prerogative">
<B>prerogative, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a right or privilege that nobody else has. <BR> <I>Ex. The government has the prerogative of coining money.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a special superiority of right or privilege, such as may derive from an official position or office; precedence. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>having or exercising a prerogative. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Law.) of or having to do with a prerogative court. <BR><I>expr. <B>the Royal Prerogative,</B> </I>the original nonstatutory powers of the British sovereign recognized by common law, now constitutionally exercised by, or on the advice of, ministers responsible to Parliament. <BR> <I>Ex. In his opinion, the very lowest claim of the Royal Prerogative should include "a right on the part of the King to be the permanent President of his Ministerial Council" (Lytton Strachey).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="prerogativecourt">
<B>prerogative court,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(in Great Britain) a former ecclesiastical court for the trial of certain testamentary cases. <DD><B> 2. </B>(in the state of New Jersey) the probate court. </DL>
<B>presa, </B>noun, pl. <B>-se.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a notation in music used in a canon to show where the successive voice parts are to take up the theme. </DL>
<A NAME="presage">
<B>presage, </B>noun, verb, <B>presaged,</B> <B>presaging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a sign felt as a warning; omen. <DD><B> 2. </B>a feeling that something is about to happen; presentiment; foreboding. <BR> <I>Ex. She could not sleep at night and was haunted by a presage of disaster (Samuel Butler).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a prediction; prognostication. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to give warning of; predict. <BR> <I>Ex. The farmer told us that a circle around the moon presages a storm.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to have or give a prophetic impression of. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to form or utter a presage or prediction. noun <B>presager.</B> adv. <B>presagingly.</B> </DL>
<B>presbycusis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> hearing impairment due to aging. </DL>
<A NAME="presbyope">
<B>presbyope, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a person having presbyopia. </DL>
<A NAME="presbyopia">
<B>presbyopia, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a condition of the eye occurring in middle and old age, in which only distant objects may be seen distinctly, unless glasses with corrective lenses are worn; normal loss of accommodation in the eyesight as the lens of the eye becomes less elastic and loses some of its ability to focus on objects close to the eyes. </DL>
<A NAME="presbyopic">
<B>presbyopic, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having to do with presbyopia. <DD><B> 2. </B>affected with presbyopia. </DL>
<A NAME="presbyter">
<B>presbyter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>an elder in the early Christian Church. <DD><B> 2. </B>a minister or a lay elder in the Presbyterian Church. <DD><B> 3. </B>a minister or a priest in the Episcopal Church. </DL>
