preview
Americannoun
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previews
plural
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an earlier or previous view.
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an advance showing of a motion picture, play, etc., before its public opening.
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an advance showing of brief scenes in a motion picture, television show, etc., for purposes of advertisement.
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anything that gives an advance idea or impression of something to come.
verb (used with object)
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previews,
present (3rd person singular)
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previewed,
past participle, past
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previewing
present participle
noun
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an advance or preliminary view or sight
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an advance showing before public presentation of a film, art exhibition, etc, usually before an invited audience of celebrities and journalists
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a public performance of a play before the official first night
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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previewsimple
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previewssimple
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have previewedperfect
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has previewedperfect
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am previewingprogressive
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are previewingprogressive
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is previewingprogressive
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have been previewingperfect progressive
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has been previewingperfect progressive
Past
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previewedsimple
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had previewedperfect
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was previewingprogressive
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were previewingprogressive
-
had been previewingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of preview
First recorded in 1600–10; 1920–25 preview for def. 2; pre- + view
Explanation
A preview gives you a look at something that hasn't been released yet. You see lots of previews at the movies. If you've been to a movie lately, chances are you saw plenty of previews — little highlights of upcoming movies that are designed to make you want to see them. Any little snippet designed to get you excited about something to come can be called a preview. If you're writing a novel, you could give someone a preview by reading them a few lines. And you're lucky enough to see a show before it opens to the public, you're previewing it.
Vocabulary lists containing preview
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: pre-
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Power Prefix: Pre-
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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.
See Examples For:
That marked an escalation from the mid-single-digit decline seen in the second quarter, Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon wrote in a preview of both AMD’s and Intel’s earnings.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
But regardless of who wins, this race is a preview of what the 2030s and 2040s will look like.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026
Stotler humbly acknowledged the venue’s good fortune to be included on the very short list of people and organizations invited to preview the record, a relatively recent development.
From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2026
The Duo has neat camera tricks, like showing a preview of the rear camera on the outside screen so you can direct the perfect shot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
Everyone hoped that this was a preview to her actually opening her eyes.
From "Silent To The Bone" by E.L. Konigsburg
Bates said that work is underway: Comic artists have been invited to previews, and the museum is working on a project involving comic book stores, according to a spokesman.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
In November, Amazon began offering enterprise previews for Leo, and plans to begin commercial service this year.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Some of their microseries will be shown at movie theaters during previews.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
The Sunday Mirror previews Andy Burnham's economic speech on Monday, where he will pledge to give mayors more power and invest extra cash into the regions.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
When they had them previews I coulda went to them, an’ spoke in the radio, an’ it wouldn’ta cost me a cent because I was in the pitcher.
From "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck
Anthropic, in an S-1 filing last week for a planned initial public offering, previewed for investors the risk that local and state governments might adopt data-center moratoriums.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
"It was a natural instinct. It wasn't something I previewed with 10 other people to say 'What do you think, should we show it?' I just went for it."
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
Accompanied by their wives, the leaders joined Charles and Queen Camilla at the museum, where they previewed the landmark Bayeux Tapestry exhibition ahead of its public opening next week.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
Mangione himself previewed this argument, yelling after the scheduling of his state trial, “Double jeopardy by any common sense definition!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Engravings of the Arctic from his upcoming book were previewed in the news media, increasing its soaring advance sales.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
Welker was previewing Sunday’s edition of “Meet the Press” on NBC’s Washington station WRC, when she made the remarks about Trump’s endorsements.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
The software firm is previewing new security services based on agentic AI, he explains, but is in discussion with corporate customers about how to charge for them.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
The gains come despite Alibaba previewing its new artificial-intelligence model—the second time in a week that China has flexed its advances in AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
Aspen-based architects John Rowland and Sarah Broughton, whose residential projects can have budgets upward of $50 million, use virtual reality when previewing designs to their clients, adding $100,000 or more for the privilege.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
All afternoon she had been preoccupied with previewing Darlene’s dress rehearsal.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
