preferment     is58 |

treatment. A3£MM^S>H£l#o ► pref er en tial ly /-Jali/ adv.

pre-fer-ment /pri'f3:mant; NAmE -'f3:rm-/ noun [U]

(formal) the fact of being given a more important job or a higher rank fffh gift SHU promotion prefigure /,pri:'figa(r); NAmE -gjar/ verb [VN] (formal) to suggest or show sth that will happen in the future Mm;

pre-fix /'priifiks/ noun, verb

m noun 1 (grammar i#j&) a letter or group of letters added to the beginning of a word to change its meaning, such as un- in unhappy and pre- in preheat ft|g ( if 7is] ft ) — compare affix n., suffix 2 a word, letter or number that is put before another ft# ft# ( if HU ffift^iigScftM, $7 ) : Car insurance policies have the prefix MC (for motor car).

MC ft# (   ) o 3 (old-fashioned)

a title such as Dr or Mrs used before a person’s name

(A£ftft ) Ml

mverb [VN] ~ A to B | ~ B with A to add letters or numbers to the beginning of a word or number ft ■■■

ft ® ft ( 7 #  7 ) : American members have the

letters US prefixed to their code numbers.     ft ft

^ ft ft 7 # # US 0 0 Their code numbers are prefixed with us. ftf]ftft«9ftft±77# US. preg-gers /'pregaz; NAmE-garz/ adj. [not before noun] (BrE, informal) pregnant f77;

preg nancy /'pregnansi/ noun [U, C] (pi. -ies) the state of being pregnant ff # ; ft jig ; ^ ft : Many women experience sickness during pregnancy, ft # ft ft; ft ft2?

0 a pregnancy test ftfi it 0 unplanned/unwanted pregnancies j§cftft /’Aft ft ft^?

0                  the increase in teenage pregnancies 7/l ft ftftftAA

ft±#

preg nant O-w /'pregnant/ adj.

1                  (of a woman or female animal        having a

baby or young animal developing inside her/its body ft ^ft; &j|ft: My wife is pregnant.   o 0/

was pregnant with our third child at the time.       Bf ftlE

.ft$rftfflft^HAl£7o 0 a heavily pregnant woman (= one whose baby is nearly ready to be born) IjtSjAft 7* ft 0 to get/become pregnant ft 7 o He got his girl­friend pregnant and they’re getting married. j&iiiftAft 7 7, EH JlfciMi BP # if 0 0 She’s six months pregnant. MftAAAA 7o 2 ~ with sth (formal) full of a quality or feeling #; % |$ H : Her silences were pregnant with criticism. ftfe ft M It M %   7ftfc ft Z MITilBl a

pregnant pause/' silence an occasion when nobody speaks, although people are aware that there are feelings or thoughts to express ftfAll^ftl^I; >MA

pre-heat /,pri:'hi:t/ verb [VN] to heat an oven to a particular temperature before you put food in it to cook

ft (-m)

prehensile /pri'hensail; NAmE -si/ adj. (technical Ain) (of a part of an animal’s body ^J^lkftft^ ft#) able to hold things JfR ft A M ft; (k. ft ft : the monkey’s prehensile tail ^7tl|IftAi3ftME —picture £> page R28

pre historic /.priihi'stnrik; NAmE -'stair-; -'sta:r-/ adj. connected with the time in history before information was written down ifu ft; ftjt^ifilfeUJlftfft; 3ftft: in prehistoric times ft itj Bf ft 0 prehistoric man/ remains/animals/burial sites ^.lu A^t / IS HE / $}$] / Pftfe pre his tory /.prii'histri/ noun 1 [U] the period of time in history before information was written down Bt ft; is® St ft 2 [sing.] the earliest stages of the develop­ment of sth       TF&Efm, mmm-.

the prehistory of capitalism $rA±A£Mftftlft pre-in stall verb [VN] = preload pre-judge /,pri:'d3Ad3/ verb [VN] (formal) to make a judgement about a situation before you have all the necessary information    ft#• ft ®r: They took

care not to prejudge the issue.    AM##

fcmmmmo

preju dice /'predsudis/ noun, verb a noun [U, C] ~ (against sb/sth) an unreasonable dislike of or preference for a person, group, custom, etc., espe­cially when it is based on their race, religion, sex, etc. [Jw J*L; J$ JSL: a victim of racial prejudice # M ii JjjL ft g ## 0 Their decision was based on ignorance and preju­dice. ft ft ft ® Ji & 7 A M ii JE o 0 There is little prejudice against workers from other EU states. #7 § ft o I must admit to a prejudice in favour of British universities. A, # AiAM# 5lSAfftlr;iio ITST77I without 'prejudice (to sth) (law ft) without affecting any other legal matter AM® ft ft U ft ; ft M 7 ft & $L ffl : They agreed to pay compensation without prejudice (= without admitting guilt).   fMA^iAftHo

verb [VN] 1 ~ sb (against sb/sth) to influence sb so that they have an unfair or unreasonable opinion about sb/sth ft ft ft- (MMM ) [JwJaL Bed BIAS: The prosecu­tion lawyers have been trying to prejudice the jury against her.    — KA SftPglMftM® J&o

2 (formal) to have a harmful effect on sth ft 'if; ft M 7: Any delay will prejudice the child’s welfare, ft ft M A> note at damage

preju-diced /'pred3adist/ adj. ~ (against sb/sth) having an unreasonable dislike of or preference for sb/sth, especially based on their race, religion, sex, etc. ft ft JjjL Few people will admit to being racially prejudiced. M7ftA^^ASBft#^ ft Mo o They are prejudiced against older applicants, ft SW^iiAftft^iiLo o (humorous) I think it’s an excellent article, but then I’m prejudiced—I wrote

it mk%mnx*m&&; ah,  m

prejudicial /,pred3u'dijl/ adj. ~ (to sth) (formal) harming or likely to harm sb/sth ft # ≪ AA'J^J;

J&M ® W H771 damaging : developments prejudicial to the company’s future AftfT

prel ate /'prelat/ noun (formal) a priest of high rank in the Christian Church, such as a bishop or cardinal

(

pre lim in ary /pri'liminari; NAmE-neri/ adj., noun m adj. ~ (to sth) happening before a more important action or event  W Hl?l

initial : After a few preliminary remarks he announced the winners. 7       , ft

#. 0 o preliminary results/findings/enquiries ft A M / 0 the preliminary rounds of the contest MM 0 pilot studies preliminary to a full-scale study      #F

unoun (pi. -ies) ~ (to sth) a preliminary is an action or event that is done in preparation for sth ft AfrSfr ( ^ tg if] ) ; M ^ ft tm M : Research will be needed as a preliminary to taking a decision. fj o o I’ll skip the usual preliminaries and come straight to the point. W\ A i#, Ife Wt it M M A -IEM

2                  England was lucky to get through the preliminaries (= the preliminary stages in a sports competition). ^PA^i5iMH70U»o

pre-load /.prii'laud; NAmE -'loud/ (also , pre-in'stall) verb [VN] to load sth in advance Mfc;      The PC comes

with office software preloaded. H p   Aft

pre-load noun

prel-ude /'preljuid/ noun 1 a short piece of music, espe­cially an introduction to a longer piece ft ft ; ft #

2 ~ (to sth) an action or event that happens before another more important one and forms an introduction

to it ft#; mm; JcM

pre mar ital /,pri:'maeritl/ adj. [only before noun] hap­pening before marriage if ft ft: premarital sex it ft ft

ft? (ft

pre ma ture /'prematj'a(r); NAmE .priima'tjur; -'tur/ adj.

3                  happening before the normal or expected time A it

ift; i!¥ft; Mftft: his premature death at the age of 37 ft 37 ft ft 2 (of a birth or a baby £7*#^ A) happening or being born before the normal length of pregnancy has been completed #ftft: The baby was four weeks premature.        J L-f-ft 7 B„ 0 a prema­ture birth after only thirty weeks      +