1 VERB If something precludes an event or action, it prevents the event or action from happening. [FORMAL ] □ [V n/v-ing] At 84, John feels his age precludes too much travel.
2 VERB If something precludes you from doing something or going somewhere, it prevents you from doing it or going there. [FORMAL ] □ [V n + from ] A constitutional amendment precludes any president from serving more than two terms.
pre|co|cious /pr I koʊ ʃəs/ ADJ [usu ADJ n] A precocious child is very clever, mature, or good at something, often in a way that you usually only expect to find in an adult. □ Margaret was always a precocious child. ● pre|co|cious|ly ADV [usu ADV adj, oft ADV with v] □ He was a precociously bright school boy.
pre|coc|ity /pr I kɒ s I ti/ N‑UNCOUNT Precocity is the quality of being precocious. [FORMAL ]
pre|con|ceived /priː kənsiː vd/ ADJ [ADJ n] If you have preconceived ideas about something, you have already formed an opinion about it before you have enough information or experience. □ We all start with preconceived notions of what we want from life.
pre|con|cep|tion /priː kənse pʃ ə n/ (preconceptions ) N‑COUNT Your preconceptions about something are beliefs formed about it before you have enough information or experience. □ Did you have any preconceptions about the sort of people who did computing?
pre|con|di|tion /priː kənd I ʃ ə n/ (preconditions ) N‑COUNT If one thing is a precondition for another, it must happen or be done before the second thing can happen or exist. [FORMAL ] □ [+ for/of/to ] They made multi-party democracy a precondition for giving aid.
pre -coo ked also precooked ADJ [usu ADJ n] Pre-cooked food has been prepared and cooked in advance so that it only needs to be heated quickly before you eat it.
pre|cur|sor /priːkɜː r sə r / (precursors ) N‑COUNT A precursor of something is a similar thing that happened or existed before it, often something which led to the existence or development of that thing. □ [+ to ] He said that the deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger.
pre|date /priː de I t/ (predates , predating , predated ) VERB If you say that one thing predated another, you mean that the first thing happened or existed some time before the second thing. □ [V n] His troubles predated the recession.
preda|tor /pre dətə r / (predators )
1 N‑COUNT A predator is an animal that kills and eats other animals.
2 N‑COUNT People sometimes refer to predatory people or organizations as predators . □ The company is worried about takeovers by various predators.
preda|tory /pre dətri, [AM ] -tɔːri/
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Predatory animals live by killing other animals for food. □ …predatory birds like the eagle.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Predatory people or organizations are eager to gain something out of someone else's weakness or suffering. □ People who run small businesses are frightened by the predatory behaviour of the banks.
pre da|tory pri c|ing N‑UNCOUNT If a company practises predatory pricing , it charges a much lower price for its products or services than its competitors in order to force them out of the market. [BUSINESS ] □ Predatory pricing by large supermarkets was threatening the livelihood of smaller businesses.
pre|de|cease /priː d I siː s/ (predeceases , predeceasing , predeceased ) VERB If one person predeceases another, they die before them. [FORMAL ] □ [V n] His wife of 63 years, Mary, predeceased him by 11 months.
pre|de|ces|sor /priː d I sesə r , [AM ] pre d-/ (predecessors )
1 N‑COUNT [usu poss N ] Your predecessor is the person who had your job before you. □ He maintained that he learned everything he knew from his predecessor.
2 N‑COUNT [usu with poss] The predecessor of an object or machine is the object or machine that came before it in a sequence or process of development. □ The car is some 40mm shorter than its predecessor.
pre|des|ti|na|tion /priː dest I ne I ʃ ə n, [AM ] priːde st-/ N‑UNCOUNT If you believe in predestination , you believe that people have no control over events because everything has already been decided by a power such as God or fate.
pre|des|tined /priː de st I nd/ ADJ If you say that something was predestined , you mean that it could not have been prevented or changed because it had already been decided by a power such as God or fate. □ His was not a political career predestined from birth.
pre|de|ter|mined /priː d I tɜː r m I nd/ ADJ If you say that something is predetermined , you mean that its form or nature was decided by previous events or by people rather than by chance. □ The Prince's destiny was predetermined from the moment of his birth. □ The capsules can be made to release the pesticides at a predetermined time.
pre|de|ter|min|er /priː d I tɜː r m I nə r / (predeterminers ) N‑COUNT In grammar, a predeterminer is a word that is used before a determiner, but is still part of the noun group. For example, 'all' in 'all the time' and 'both' in 'both our children' are predeterminers.
pre|dica|ment /pr I d I kəmənt/ (predicaments ) N‑COUNT If you are in a predicament , you are in an unpleasant situation that is difficult to get out of. □ The decision will leave her in a peculiar predicament.
predi|cate (predicates , predicating , predicated ) The noun is pronounced /pre d I kət/. The verb is pronounced /pre d I ke I t/. 1 N‑COUNT In some systems of grammar, the predicate of a clause is the part of it that is not the subject. For example, in 'I decided what to do', 'decided what to do' is the predicate.
2 VERB [usu passive] If you say that one situation is predicated on another, you mean that the first situation can be true or real only if the second one is true or real. [FORMAL ] □ [be V -ed + on ] Financial success is usually predicated on having money or being able to obtain it.