prefer
to set or hold before or above other persons or things in estimation; like better; choose rather than: to prefer beef to chicken.
Law. to give priority, as to one creditor over another.
to put forward or present (a statement, suit, charge, etc.) for consideration or sanction.
to put forward or advance, as in rank or office; promote: to be preferred for advancement.
to wish or feel inclined: For this stir-fry you can skip the cashews if you prefer.
Origin of prefer
1synonym study For prefer
Other words for prefer
Opposites for prefer
Other words from prefer
- pre·fer·red·ly [pri-fur-id-lee, -furd-lee], /prɪˈfɜr ɪd li, -ˈfɜrd li/, adverb
- pre·fer·red·ness, noun
- pre·fer·rer, noun
- un·pre·ferred, adjective
Words Nearby prefer
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use prefer in a sentence
While Pelosi prefers to do a comprehensive relief package, one policy she is said to be considering is a $75 billion bill that would bolster coronavirus testing and tracing programs nationwide.
Why lawmakers may choose a more targeted approach for the second round of COVID stimulus | Aric Jenkins | September 16, 2020 | FortuneViruses, which hijack cells to copy their proteins, have, predictably, evolved a taste for the same codons that human cells prefer.
Synthetic biologists have created a slow-growing version of the coronavirus to give as a vaccine | David Rotman | September 16, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewI prefer to keep the mobile version on the left-hand side and desktop version of the source code on the right-hand side.
How to earn your place in Google’s index in 2020 | Bartosz Góralewicz | September 14, 2020 | Search Engine LandThis easel-style calendar doesn’t ask a whole lot of you, and some people rightfully prefer their office supplies that way.
While companies still overwhelmingly prefer board candidates with prior public board experience—72% of this year’s new picks had that record—they’re slowly accepting different kinds of leaders.
Nearly half of open board seats went to women in 2019. Only 23% were filled by people of color | ehinchliffe | September 10, 2020 | Fortune
This final episode of Extras is the perfect Christmastime escape for those who prefer the bittersweet to the saccharine.
Environmentalists today generally prefer to limit roads and block new water projects, even in parched California.
We prefer to wave away the warning signs; like The Interview, Mulholland Drive was comfortably downplayed as over-the-top satire.
Pyongyang Shuffle: Hollywood In Dead Panic Over Sony Hack | James Poulos | December 19, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBoth are offering original programing designed to be viewed however you prefer—one episode at a time or all at once.
And even those who consider themselves great patriots prefer to keep their savings in foreign currency.
Recession? Devaluation? Inflation? Putin Tells Russia Stay the Course. | Anna Nemtsova | December 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWe prefer the American volume of Hochelaga to the Canadian one, although both are highly interesting.
For instance, few workmen will take a holiday; they prefer a "day's out" or "play."
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham | Thomas T. Harman and Walter ShowellThe Cockalorum pondered over this for a moment, and then murmuring, "I prefer croquet," floundered away through the waving grass.
Davy and The Goblin | Charles E. CarrylThe Russians, on the contrary, prefer orange-yellow transparent specimens.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce | E. R. Billings.It is immaterial to whom the transfer is made if the purpose be to prefer one creditor to another.
Putnam's Handy Law Book for the Layman | Albert Sidney Bolles
British Dictionary definitions for prefer
/ (prɪˈfɜː) /
(when tr, may take a clause as object or an infinitive) to like better or value more highly: I prefer to stand
law to give preference, esp to one creditor over others
(esp of the police) to put (charges) before a court, judge, magistrate, etc, for consideration and judgment
(tr; often passive) to advance in rank over another or others; promote
Origin of prefer
1usage For prefer
Derived forms of prefer
- preferrer, noun
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
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