predatory /'predetri; NAmE -toiri/ adj. 1 (technical A iff) (of animals if} #j) living by killing and eating other animals $hfH£W 2 (of people A) using weaker people for their own financial or sexual advantage (

AW,  AW: a predatory insur­ance salesman 0 a predatory look &

.predatory 'pricing noun [u] (business fi) the fact of a business company selling its goods at such a low price that other companies can no longer compete and have to stop selling similar goods ® AAAA; A $r if A AW

Aim

pre-de-cease /.priidi'siis/ verb [VN] (law #) to die before sb A A • • ■ Attt: His wife predeceased him. fife W H AAA dlAtto

pre-de-ces-sor /'pri:disesa(r); NAmE 'predas-/ noun 1 a person who did a job before sb else fj (t: The new president reversed many of the policies of his predecessor.

2 a thing, such

as a machine, that has been followed or replaced by sth else IK AW A®;   — compare successor

pre-des-tin-ation /.priidesti'neijn/ noun [u] the theory or the belief that everything that happens has been decided or planned in advance by God or by fate and that humans cannot change it pre destined /.prir'destind/ adj. - (to do sth) (formal) already decided or planned by God or by fate ip A & AW; A A A }# W: It seems she was predestined to be famous.

pre de ter mine /.prirdi'tormin; NAmE -'t3:rm-/ verb [VN] (formal) to decide sth in advance so that it does not happen by chance M A $: A ; ¥ A A ft: The sex of the embryo is predetermined at fertilization.

► pre-de-ter-mined adj.: An alarm sounds when the temperature reaches a predetermined level.

predeterminer /,pri:di't3:min0(r); NArpE -'t3:rm-/ noun (grammar i|jiA) a word that can be used before a determiner, such as all in all the students or twice in twice

the price    ( iA^illitu, *0

all the students AW all fP twice the price AW twice ) predicament /pri'dikamant/ noun a difficult or unpleasant situation, especially one where it is difficult to know what to do ji£J& Wii^ ; ® EEE1

quandary : the club’s financial predicament fH A nP W 0 I’m in a terrible predicament. 4£W£tfi AA

predi cate noun, verb

m noun /'predikat/ (grammar iff ]£-) a part of a sentence containing a verb that makes a statement about the subject of the verb, such as went home in John went home, ifilf ( AAf&A,   M John went

home AW went home ) — compare object n.(4) a verb /'predikeit/ (formal) 1 [VN] [usually passive] ~ sth on/upon sth to base sth on a particular belief, idea or principle ftl A ; ff HI ■■■ A $| : Democracy is predicated upon the rule of law.

2 to state that sth is true ; l¥J BJ ; Ht W : [V that] The article predicates that the market collapse was caused by weakness of the dollar,       , rfi W

[also VN]

pre-dica-tive /pri'dikativ; NAmE 'predikeitiv/ adj. (grammar ig-Jfe) (of an adjective A§iil) coming after a verb such as be, become, get, seem, look. Many adjectives, for example old can be either predicative as in The man is very old, or attributive as in an old man. Some, like asleep, can only be predicative. #^i|fW, if iff'lAW ( M tU asleep, if be. become, get. seem. look dbis]

Jfj; attributive IgA ) ► pre-dica-tive-ly adv. pre-diet 0-w /pri'dikt/ verb to say that sth will happen in the future M a iv MA; M jU ET171 forecast : [VN] a reliable method of predicting earthquakes ® flx ife li W A || A & o Nobody could predict the outcome, it i±L A iAM $4      #0 if <> <>

[V wh-] It is impossible to predict what will happen, AAWV41ARTisWo 0 [V (that)] She predicted (that) the

election result would be close. MM m

0                  [VN that] It was predicted that inflation would

continue to fall.     o [VN

to inf] The trial is predicted to last for months. M$4AiR nwm&HZXo GEO This pattern is only used in the passive.

pre-dict-able /pri'diktabl/ adj. 1 if sth is predictable, you know in advance that it will happen or what it will be like RfMAW; RJM$4W: a predictable result RfMA W M O The ending of the book was entirely predictable. SPAAW^^A^IlRf iMSJEWo o In March and April, the weather is much less predictable. EL, E9M f#W fiH A AAAMiMo 2 (often disapproving) behaving or hap­pening in a way that you would expect and therefore boring 3SAI-AAW;       He’s very nice,

but I find him rather dull and predictable, fife A A 414 A4h,        o ► pre-dict-abil-ity

/pri.dikta'bilati/ noun [U] pre dict ably /-abli/ adv. : Prices were predictably high, fft $     Ji !c $4 A W ^ o 0

Predictably, the new regulations proved unpopular. ]E jtn

mm4,

pre diction /pri'dikjn/ noun [c, U] a statement that says what you think will happen; the act of making such a statement M g ; MfM; MA: Not many people agree with the government’s prediction that the economy wiii improve.

W M M o 0 The results of the experiment confirmed our predictions, m & % * t£ $juT & Cl W.M IN » o Skilled readers make use of context and prediction. iA tlsA 3S wx&mmi.'TXRimmmMXMo o ics difficult to make accurate predictions about the effects on the envir­onment.

pre-dict-ive /prTdiktiv/ adj. [usually before noun]

1                  (formal) connected with the ability to show what will happen in the future M $'J W; M m W ; ml SI W : the predictive power of science ^4 # W M ?$l tfe A 2 (of a computer program if M. A) allowing you to enter text on a computer or a mobile phone/cellphone more quickly by using the first few letters of each word to predict what you want to say M W: predictive text input M ii A A St A 0 predictive messaging M A 'M E

pre dictor /pri'dikta(r)/ noun (formal) something that can show what will happen in the future  MA

tyj}: Cholesterol level is not a strong predictor of heart disease in women. SS @ B A S A     Ml M A jQ ic fa

mm.

pre-digest-ed /,pri:dai‘d3estid/ adj. (of information f@S) put in a simple form that is easy to understand ftf it

W; IIA1»«

predilection /.priidiTekJn; NAmE .predl'ek-/ noun [usually sing.] ~ (for sth) (formal) if you have a predilec­tion for sth, you like it very much ; if; A g ETI71 LIKING, PREFERENCE

pre-dis-pose /.priidi'spauz; NAmE -'spooz/ verb (formal) 1 ~ sb to sth/to do sth to influence sb so that they are likely to think or behave in a particular way M l«] A;    WS^Al: [VN] He believes that some people are

predisposed to criminal behaviour, fife iA A A§ J§ 3E

Ho 0 [VN to inf] Her good mood predisposed her to enjoy

the play, 2 [VN]

~ sb to sth to make it likely that you will suffer from a particular illness f IAI (

Stress can predispose people to heart attacks. 'jiTA W JHJ

predisposition /.prirdispa'zijn/ noun [C, u] - (to/ towards sth) | ~ (to do sth) (formal) a condition that makes sb/sth likely to behave in a particular way or to suffer from a particular disease ffelffo];

W )'   : a genetic predisposition to liver disease

pre dom in-ance /pri'dnmmans; NAmE -'da:m-/ noun

1             [sing] the situation of being greater in number or amount than other things or people ( Jt± W )

H771 preponderance : a predominance of female teachers in elementary schools    WSfe^.

[U] the state of having more power or influence than others A-AitfefA AfSifeifc; H33 dominance