prime
♦ prime /pr'aɪm/ (primes priming primed)
1 [ADJ] ADJ n
You use prime to describe something that is most important in a situation.
Political stability, meanwhile, will be a prime concern...
It could be a prime target for guerrilla attack...
The police will see me as the prime suspect!
2 [ADJ] ADJ n
You use prime to describe something that is of the best possible quality.
It was one of the City's prime sites, near the Stock Exchange.
3 [ADJ] ADJ n
You use prime to describe an example of a particular kind of thing that is absolutely typical.
The prime example is Macy's, once the undisputed king of California retailers.
= classic
4 [N-UNCOUNT] usu poss N
If someone or something is in their prime, they are at the stage in their existence when they are at their strongest, most active, or most successful.
She was in her intellectual prime...
We've had a series of athletes trying to come back well past their prime.
...young persons in the prime of life.
5 [VERB] V n, V n for n, be V-ed to-inf
If you prime someone to do something, you prepare them to do it, for example by giving them information about it beforehand.
Claire wished she'd primed Sarah beforehand...
Arnold primed her for her duties...
The press corps was primed to leap to the defense of the fired officials.
= brief
6
to prime the pump: see pumpprime mov|er (prime movers)
[N-COUNT] usu N behind/in n
The prime mover behind a plan, idea, or situation is someone who has an important influence in starting it.
He was the prime mover behind the coup...
= driving forceprime num|ber (prime numbers)
[N-COUNT]
In mathematics, a prime number is a whole number greater than 1 that cannot be divided exactly by any whole number except itself and the number 1, for example 17.prime rate (prime rates)
[N-COUNT]
A bank's prime rate is the lowest rate of interest which it charges at a particular time and which is offered only to certain customers. (BUSINESS)
At least one bank cut its prime rate today.prime time
also primetime
[N-UNCOUNT] usu N n
Prime time television or radio programmes are broadcast when the greatest number of people are watching television or listening to the radio, usually in the evenings.
...a prime-time television show.
...prime time viewing in mid-evening.
1 [ADJ] ADJ n
You use prime to describe something that is most important in a situation.
Political stability, meanwhile, will be a prime concern...
It could be a prime target for guerrilla attack...
The police will see me as the prime suspect!
2 [ADJ] ADJ n
You use prime to describe something that is of the best possible quality.
It was one of the City's prime sites, near the Stock Exchange.
3 [ADJ] ADJ n
You use prime to describe an example of a particular kind of thing that is absolutely typical.
The prime example is Macy's, once the undisputed king of California retailers.
= classic
4 [N-UNCOUNT] usu poss N
If someone or something is in their prime, they are at the stage in their existence when they are at their strongest, most active, or most successful.
She was in her intellectual prime...
We've had a series of athletes trying to come back well past their prime.
...young persons in the prime of life.
5 [VERB] V n, V n for n, be V-ed to-inf
If you prime someone to do something, you prepare them to do it, for example by giving them information about it beforehand.
Claire wished she'd primed Sarah beforehand...
Arnold primed her for her duties...
The press corps was primed to leap to the defense of the fired officials.
= brief
6
to prime the pump: see pumpprime mov|er (prime movers)
[N-COUNT] usu N behind/in n
The prime mover behind a plan, idea, or situation is someone who has an important influence in starting it.
He was the prime mover behind the coup...
= driving forceprime num|ber (prime numbers)
[N-COUNT]
In mathematics, a prime number is a whole number greater than 1 that cannot be divided exactly by any whole number except itself and the number 1, for example 17.prime rate (prime rates)
[N-COUNT]
A bank's prime rate is the lowest rate of interest which it charges at a particular time and which is offered only to certain customers. (BUSINESS)
At least one bank cut its prime rate today.prime time
also primetime
[N-UNCOUNT] usu N n
Prime time television or radio programmes are broadcast when the greatest number of people are watching television or listening to the radio, usually in the evenings.
...a prime-time television show.
...prime time viewing in mid-evening.