primary

(noun, adjective, verb)

adjective

1. of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondary

- primary goals

- a primary effect

- primary sources

Similar word(s): essential, first, original, capital, direct, firsthand, original, particular, special

2. not derived from or reducible to something else; basic

- a primary instinct

Similar word(s): underived

3. most important element

- the principal rivers of America

- the principal example

- policemen were primary targets

Similar word(s): important, chief, main, master, principal

4. of or being the essential or basic part

Similar word(s): basic, basal, elemental, elementary

Sentences with primary as an adjective:

- Children attend primary school, and teenagers attend secondary school.

- Preferred stock has primary claim on dividends, ahead of common stock.

noun

1. a preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen

Definition categories: act, election

2. one of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing

Definition categories: animal, pinion, quill

3. (astronomy) a celestial body (especially a star) relative to other objects in orbit around it

Definition categories: object

4. coil forming the part of an electrical circuit such that changing current in it induces a current in a neighboring circuit

- current through the primary coil induces current in the secondary coil

Definition categories: man–made, coil

verb

1. (US, intransitive) To take part in a primary election.

2. (US, politics) To challenge an incumbent sitting politician for their political party's endorsement to run for re-election, through running a challenger campaign in a primary election