| / English Dictionary |
PRIMARY
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("primary" is a kind of...):
election (a vote to select the winner of a position or political office)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "primary"):
direct primary (a primary where voters directly select the candidates who will run for office)
Sense 2
Meaning:
One of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing
Synonyms:
primary; primary feather; primary quill
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("primary" is a kind of...):
flight feather; pinion; quill; quill feather (any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a bird)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Coil forming the part of an electrical circuit such that changing current in it induces a current in a neighboring circuit
Example:
current through the primary coil induces current in the secondary coil
Synonyms:
primary; primary coil; primary winding
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("primary" is a kind of...):
coil (reactor consisting of a spiral of insulated wire that introduces inductance into a circuit)
Holonyms ("primary" is a part of...):
transformer (an electrical device by which alternating current of one voltage is changed to another voltage)
Sense 4
Meaning:
(astronomy) a celestial body (especially a star) relative to other objects in orbit around it
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)
Hypernyms ("primary" is a kind of...):
celestial body; heavenly body (natural objects visible in the sky)
Domain category:
astronomy; uranology (the branch of physics that studies celestial bodies and the universe as a whole)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Not derived from or reducible to something else; basic
Example:
a primary instinct
Classified under:
Similar:
underived (not derived; primary or simple)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Most important element
Example:
a master switch
Synonyms:
chief; main; master; primary; principal
Classified under:
Similar:
important; of import (of great significance or value)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary
Example:
a primary interest
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
particular; special (first and most important)
original ((of e.g. information) not secondhand or by way of something intermediary)
first-string (being a regular member of a team)
capital (of primary importance)
direct (being an immediate result or consequence)
firsthand (received directly from a source)
Also:
original (being or productive of something fresh and unusual; or being as first made or thought of)
first (preceding all others in time or space or degree)
essential (basic and fundamental)
Antonym:
secondary (being of second rank or importance or value; not direct or immediate)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Of or being the essential or basic part
Example:
a basal reader
Synonyms:
basal; elemental; elementary; primary
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
basic (pertaining to or constituting a base or basis)
Context examples:
The underlying causes of primary open angle glaucoma remain poorly understood, but likely involve both genetic and environmental influences.
(Glaucoma-related genes revealed, NIH)
T cells grown in the presence of extra potassium and transplanted into mice shrank primary and metastatic melanoma tumors better than T cells grown in normal levels of potassium.
(Harnessing T-cell “stemness” could enhance cancer immunotherapy, National Institutes of Health)
Surgery to remove one or more metastases (tumors formed from cells that have spread from the primary tumor).
(Metastasectomy, NCI Dictionary)
A malignant tumor that has spread from its original (primary) site of growth to another site close to or distant from the primary site.
(Metastatic Malignant Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)
A benign or malignant, primary or metastatic neoplasm of the brain occurring in adults.
(Adult Brain Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)
The spread of a malignant neoplasm from an unknown primary to another region remote from the primary site.
(Metastatic Malignant Neoplasm of Unknown Primary Origin, NCI Thesaurus)
Cancer in which the site of the primary (original) tumor cannot be found.
(Metastatic Malignant Neoplasm of Unknown Primary Origin, NCI Dictionary)
Your third house of communication is packed with planets, including Saturn and your primary ruler, Pluto.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
A benign or malignant (primary or metastatic) neoplasm affecting the adrenal glands.
(Adrenal Gland Neoplasm, NCI Thesaurus)
A carcinoma that has spread to the liver from another primary anatomic site.
(Metastatic Carcinoma to the Liver, NCI Thesaurus)
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