primary
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