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direct primary

noun U.S. Politics.
  1. a primary in which members of a party nominate its candidates by direct vote.
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Compare indirect primary.

Origin of direct primary

First recorded in 1895–1900
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for direct primary

Historical Examples

  • We had in California on the 16th day of August (less than a month ago) a direct-primary election.

    Proceedings of the Second National Conservation Congress

    Various

British Dictionary definitions for direct primary

direct primary

noun
  1. US government a primary in which voters directly select the candidates who will run for office
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
direct primary in Culture

direct primary

An election in which voters choose candidates to run on a party's ticket in a subsequent election for public office.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.