preliminaries
Britishplural noun
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.
Earlier, during the preliminaries, someone had led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance—first to the American flag, then to the state of Texas.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
He swam the lead leg in the preliminaries, helping the team set an Olympic record that paved the way for a world-record win in the final.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2025
As the preliminaries drew to a close, Mike’s friends gradually started coming upstairs to join him.
From Slate • Oct. 31, 2024
After a successful debut at Tokyo 2020, the skateboarding got under way in Paris with Britons Sky Brown and Lola Tambling competing in the women's park preliminaries.
From BBC • Aug. 6, 2024
"Thank you," I said, shifting my weight on my feet and touching the door knob, little moves, polite preliminaries to closing the door.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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.
