3 happening or made too soon ^   (ft: a

premature conclusion/decision/judgement &/

AaE / £iJ0fr 0 It is premature to talk about success at this stage. M ^ U Wt %. $       Ini X H & prematurely

adv.: The child was born prematurely.

0 0 Her hair became prematurely white. M (ft

'pre-med noun (informal) 1 [U] (especially NAmE) a course or set of classes that students take in preparation for medical school       ) 2 [C] (especially NAmE)

a student who is taking classes in preparation for medical school     3 [U] = premedication

pre medication /.prii.medi'keijn/ (also informal pre- med) noun [U] drugs given to sb in preparation for an operation or other medical treatment A if #1M;  (

ff) mW#i;

pre medi tated /.prii'mediteitid/ adj. (of a crime or bad action ipI£l3<,IKfi) planned in advance   ^

% H 3c!J : a premeditated attack > AII $j # ift i 0 The killing had not been premeditated. )|c A7II M (ft o PTO3 unpremeditated pre-medi-ta-tion /.prii.medi'teijn/ noun [U],

pre menstrual /.premenstrual/ adj. happening or experienced before menstruation R M tu (ft: Many women suffer from premenstrual tension/syndrome, causing headaches and depression. /f #3 A B

— see-alsoPMS

prem ier /'premia(r); NAmE pri'mir; -'mjir/ adj., noun

a adj. [only before noun] most important, famous or suc­cessful       1;     W: one of

the country’s premier chefs        0 (BrE, sport #)

the Premier League/Division

m noun 1 used especially in newspapers, etc. to mean ‘prime minister’ ( X 7 U M   , 1*1 2 (in

Canada) the first minister of a province or territory

() tu, MK&m

premi ere /'premiea(r); NAmE pri'mir; -'mjir/ noun, verb

a noun the first public performance of a film/movie or play ( *#A  the world

premiere of his new play Ik 1$  A o

The movie will have its premiere in July.

M flUttBfco

m verb to perform a play or piece of music or show a film/movie to an audience for the first time; to be performed or shown to an audience for the first time if

& & an ( $ J&J, # A > ffef/ ) : [VN] The play was premiered at the Birmingham Rep in 1999. jittJZfcT1 1999    o 9 [V] His new movie

premieres in New York this week.

prem iership /'premiajip; NAmE pri'mir Jip; -'mjir-/ noun [sing.] 1 the period or position of being prime minister       ft (       ( J&&M ) :

during Blair’s premiership

2 (often the Premiership) the football (soccer) league in England and Wales which has the best teams in it (

prem ise (BrE also less frequent prem-iss) /'premis/ noun (formal) a statement or an idea that forms the basis for a reasonable line of argument |t[ M; lit/i?: the basic premise of her argument jttk(ftifeiE(ftiSAfiu$l o a false premise ^ (ft 0U ^ o His reasoning is based on the premise that all people are equally capable of good and evil.

prem ised /'premist/ adj. ~ on/upon sth (formal) based on a particular idea or belief that is considered to be true jSM, S 7 (       , fa ^ ) : Traditional

economic analysis is premised on the assumption that more is better.

Mo ^

prem ises 0-w /'premisiz/ noun [pi.] the building and land near to it that a business owns or

uses n±wtf;.

business/commercial/industrial premises ^

0 No alcohol may be consumed on the premises. iK^lilhf i. o Police were called to escort her off the premises.

o note at building

I 1559

pre mium /'priimiam/ noun, adj. m noun 1 an amount of money that you pay once or regu­larly for an insurance policy       a monthly

premium of £6.25 # R 6.25 ^Iglftf^l^^ o note at payment 2 an extra payment added to the basic rate ; Pfjljnft:: You have to pay a high premium for express delivery.   o A premium

of 10% is paid out after 20 years. * 20 H ft fit 10% ^ o CT at a 'premium 1 if sth is at a premium, there is little of it available and it is difficult to get M X ; : Space is at a premium in a one-

bedroomed apartment. #- Jjg--g £ ftial Jill ^ ® W 0 2 at a higher than normal price ® tB 7- # fft;     :

Shares are selling at a premium.

jft tb ^ o put/place/set a premium on sb/sth to

think that sb/sth is particularly important or valuable

ail; M

m adj. [only before noun] very high (and higher than usual); of high quality ^ (ft ; ffc : premium prices/ products

pre-modifier /,pri:'mDdifaia(r); NAmE -'ma:d-/ noun (grammar iff?£) a word, such as an adjective or adverb, that describes another word or group of words, or restricts its/their meaning in some way, and is placed before it/them    mf HJ5Sc ft: In ‘a loud

noise’, the adjective ‘loud’ is a premodifier, ft a loud noise «£,       loud o — compare modifier,

postmodifier

pre-mon-ition /.priima'nijn; ,prem-/ noun ~ (of sth/ that...) a feeling that sth is going to happen, especially sth unpleasant (     a premonition of

disaster   <> He had a premonition that he

would never see her again.

^ o pre-moni-tory /pri'mnmtari; NAmE -'ma:mto:ri/ adj. (formal) : a premonitory dream pre-natal /.prii'neitl/ adj. (especially NAmE) = ante­natal — compare post-natal pre-nup-tial agreement /pri:,nApJl a'grirmant/ (also informal pre-nup /‘priinAp/) noun an agreement made by a couple before they get married in which they say how their money and property is to be divided if they get divorced      )

pre-occu pation /pri.Dkju'peiJn; NAmE -,a:k-/ noun 1 [U, C] ~ (with sth) a state of thinking about sth continuously; sth that you think about frequently or for a long time #3$;     ; -feAJS# W # '[# PW71 obses­

sion : She found his preoccupation with money irri­tating.  <> His current

preoccupation is the appointment of the new manager, it i mh'btflMiffii&Mtftii2 [U] a mood created by thinking or worrying about sth and ignoring everything else $ Jr fi;      ^ H ^: She spoke slowly,

in a state of preoccupation. M M # #  , S # 7' ¥

Mo

pre occu pied /pri'Dkjupaid; NAmE -'a:k-/ adj. ~ (with sth) thinldng and/or worrying continuously about sth so that you do not pay attention to other things Jr; — H 7' JB : He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. #, R M H If 7'

preoccupy /pri’nkjupai; NAmE -'a:k-/ verb (pre-occu- pies, pre-occu-py-ing, pre-occu-pied, pre-occu-pied) [VN] if sth is preoccupying you, you think or worry about it very often or all the time 0 $6®#; pre ordained /,pri:o:'demd; NAmE -air'd-/ adj. ~ to do sth (formal) already decided or planned by God or by FATE ET3TI PREDESTINED: Is

everything we do preordained? ift #1$       A^ ^ ?

0 They seemed preordained to meet.

tm0

,pre-'owned adj. (NAmE) not new; owned by sb else before |H^; prep /prep/ noun, verb

m noun [U] (BrE) (in some private schools) school work that is done at the end of the day after lessons (