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Predomination

The act or state of predominating; ascendency; predominance.

Predorsal

Situated in front of the back; immediately in front, or on the ventral side the dorsal part of the vertebral column.

Predy

Cleared and ready for engagement, as a ship.

Preeminence

The quality or state of being pre/minent; superiority in prominence or in excellence; distinction above others in quality, rank, etc.; rarely, in a bad sense, superiority or notoriety in evil; as, pre/minence in honor.

Preeminent

Eminent above others; prominent among those who are eminent; superior in excellence; surpassing, or taking precedence of, others; rarely, surpassing others in evil, or in bad qualities; as, pre/minent in guilt.

Preempt

To settle upon (public land) with a right of preemption, as under the laws of the United States; to take by preemption.

Preemption

The act or right of preemption. The act or right of purchasing before others. The privilege or prerogative formerly enjoyed by the king of buying provisions for his household in preference to others. The right of an actual settler upon public lands (particularly those of the United States) to purchase a certain portion at a fixed price in preference to all other applicants.

Preemptioner

One who holds a prior right to purchase certain public land.

Preemptive

Of or pertaining to pre/mption; having power to pre/mpt; pre/mpting.

Preemptor

One who pre/mpts; esp., one who pre/mpts public land.

Preen

To dress up neatly and smartly; to make oneself well-groomed and well-dressed.

Preengage

To engage by previous contract; to bind or attach previously; to preoccupy.

Preengagement

Prior engagement, obligation, or attachment, as by contract, promise, or affection.

Preexist

To exist previously; to exist before something else; to exist before the current activity commenced; as, preexisting illnesses are not covered by this insurance policy.

Preexistence

Existence in a former state, or previous to something else.

Preexistent

Existing previously; preceding existence; as, a pre/xistent state.

Preexistentism

The theory of a pre/xistence of souls before their association with human bodies.

Prefatory

Pertaining to, or of the nature of, a preface; introductory to a book, essay, or discourse; as, prefatory remarks.

Prefect

A Roman officer who controlled or superintended a particular command, charge, department, etc.; as, the prefect of the aqueducts; the prefect of a camp, of a fleet, of the city guard, of provisions; the pretorian prefect, who was commander of the troops guarding the emperor's person.

Prefecture

The office, position, or jurisdiction of a prefect; also, his official residence.

Prefecundation

A term collectively applied to the changes or conditions preceding fecundation, especially to the changes which the ovum undergoes before fecundation.

Prefer

To carry or bring (something) forward, or before one; hence, to bring for consideration, acceptance, judgment, etc.; to offer; to present; to proffer; to address; -- said especially of a request, prayer, petition, claim, charge, etc.

Preferability

The quality or state of being preferable; preferableness.

Preferable

Worthy to be preferred or chosen before something else; more desirable; as, a preferable scheme.

Preference

The act of Preferring, or the state of being preferred; the setting of one thing before another; precedence; higher estimation; predilection; choice; also, the power or opportunity of choosing; as, to give him his preference.

Preferential

Giving, indicating, or having a preference or precedence; as, a preferential claim; preferential shares.

Preferment

The act of choosing, or the state of being chosen; preference.

Prefidence

The quality or state of being prefident.

Prefident

Trusting beforehand; hence, overconfident.

Prefiguration

The act of prefiguring, or the state of being prefigured.

Prefigure

To show, suggest, or announce, by antecedent types and similitudes; to foreshadow.

Prefigurement

The act of prefiguring; prefiguration; also, that which is prefigured.

Prefix

That which is prefixed; esp., one or more letters or syllables combined or united with the beginning of a word to modify its signification; as, pre- in prefix, con- in conjure.

Preform

To form beforehand, or for special ends.

Preformation

An old theory of the pre/xistence of germs. Cf. Embo/tement.

Prefrontal

Situated in front of the frontal bone, or the frontal region of the skull; ectethmoid, as a certain bone in the nasal capsule of many animals, and certain scales of reptiles and fishes. A prefrontal bone or scale.

Pregnable

Capable of being entered, taken, or captured; expugnable; as, a pregnable fort.

Pregnancy

The condition of being pregnant; the state of being with young.

Pregnant

Affording entrance; receptive; yielding; willing; open; prompt.

Pregnantly

Unresistingly; openly; hence, clearly; evidently.

Prehallux

An extra first toe, or rudiment of a toe, on the preaxial side of the hallux.

Prehensile

Adapted to seize or grasp; seizing; grasping; as, the prehensile tail of a monkey.

Prehension

The act of taking hold, seizing, or grasping, as with the hand or other member.

Prehistoric

Of or pertaining to a period before written history begins; as, the prehistoric ages; prehistoric man.

Prehnite

A pale green mineral occurring in crystalline aggregates having a botryoidal or mammillary structure, and rarely in distinct crystals. It is a hydrous silicate of alumina and lime.

Prehnitic

Pertaining to, or designating, a tetrabasic acid of benzene obtained as a white crystalline substance; -- probably so called from the resemblance of the wartlike crystals to the mammill/ on the surface of prehnite.

Preignition

Ignition in an internal-combustion engine while the inlet valve is open or before compression is completed.

Preindesignate

Having no sign expressive of quantity; indefinite. See Predesignate.

Prejudge

To judge before hearing, or before full and sufficient examination; to decide or sentence by anticipation; to condemn beforehand.

Prejudgment

The act of prejudging; decision before sufficient examination.

Prejudical

Of or pertaining to the determination of some matter not previously decided; as, a prejudical inquiry or action at law.

Prejudication

The act of prejudicating, or of judging without due examination of facts and evidence; prejudgment.

Prejudicative

Forming a judgment without due examination; prejudging.

Prejudice

To cause to have prejudice; to prepossess with opinions formed without due knowledge or examination; to bias the mind of, by hasty and incorrect notions; to give an unreasonable bent to, as to one side or the other of a cause; as, to prejudice a critic or a juryman.

Prelacy

The office or dignity of a prelate; church government by prelates.

Prelal

Of or pertaining to printing; typographical.

Prelatess

A woman who is a prelate; the wife of a prelate.

Prelatically

In a prelatical manner; with reference to prelates.

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