prearrange
Americanverb (used with object)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of prearrange
Explanation
When you plan something well in advance, you prearrange it. If a reporter prearranges every interview question with a politician, the answers will probably come out sounding too polished and phony. Whenever people agree on or organize the details of something before it happens, they prearrange it. Many things in life benefit from being prearranged: spies need to prearrange meeting places and code words, and new parents usually prearrange gear like car seats and diapers before the birth of their child. Prearrange adds the "before" prefix pre- to arrange, from the Old French a, "to," and rangier, "set in a row."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Guests need to prearrange entrances or exits, or buzz an intercom during those hours.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
Riders can hail a shuttle as they would with a traditional cab — or prearrange rides by calling Transco’s call center, said company Vice President Jeff Schaeffer.
From Washington Post • Nov. 16, 2016
But Altman welcomed actors' contributions, and if he didn't prearrange everything in the manner of a Kubrick or Hitchcock, he would post-arrange them once he saw what he had.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2015
“Some people feel like if they come in and prearrange for their burial then they’re going to die the next day,” he says.
From Salon • Oct. 7, 2012
Then it was some one's business to prearrange the distribution of troops by assigning one or more designated regiments to one or more designated steamers and giving necessary orders to the colonels.
From Campaigning in Cuba by Kennan, George
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
