preference
Americannoun
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the act of preferring.
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the state of being preferred.
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that which is preferred; choice.
His preference is vanilla, not chocolate.
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a practical advantage given to one over others.
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a prior right or claim, as to payment of dividends or to assets upon dissolution.
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the favoring of one country or group of countries by granting special advantages over others in international trade.
noun
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the act of preferring
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something or someone preferred
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law
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the settling of the claims of one or more creditors before or to the exclusion of those of the others
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a prior right to payment, as of a dividend or share in the assets of a company in the event of liquidation
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commerce the granting of favour or precedence to particular foreign countries, as by levying differential tariffs
Related Words
See choice.
Other Word Forms
- nonpreference noun
- self-preference noun
Etymology
Origin of preference
From the Medieval Latin word praeferentia, dating back to 1595–1605. See prefer, -ence
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.
But shifting consumer preferences, as shoppers scrutinise ingredients in packaged foods, have encouraged food makers and retailers to reassess products.
From BBC
But unlike the Equity for Punks' "ordinary" shareholders, TSG was given "preference shares".
From BBC
Bloomingdale’s has hired 90 new personal shoppers and armed them with “Little Brown Books”—an app that puts comprehensive customer information at their fingertips such as recent purchases, sizes and brand preferences.
Her spirit secrets, her longing for Elisha, or her growing preference for a different kind of life?
From Literature
The fault line exposed now is that private credit is being offered to retail investors and wealthy individuals whose liquidity preferences are different from sophisticated, more patient institutional investors.
From MarketWatch
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.
