primary quality
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of primary quality
First recorded in 1650–60
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.
By contrast, Matthen sees color as more reality-dependent than the feeling of pleasure, while still being less real world-based than a so-called primary quality, like the movement or size of atoms.
From Salon • Nov. 16, 2024
Asked to sum up the primary quality a leader needs, Hogan led off his response with: “Keep your word. Everything after that pales by comparison.”
From Washington Post • Nov. 4, 2021
Both William Hartnell and Peter Capaldi were cast as the Doctor at the age of 55 Writing in Mark Lawson suggested that "danger" was Capaldi's primary quality as an actor.
From BBC • Aug. 5, 2013
It might have other advantages over natural ice, but in Bessie Pastor's mind its primary quality would be safety.
From Time Magazine Archive
The vessels laid down were cruisers, the primary quality of which should be speed; but fourteen knots was the highest demanded, and that of one only, the Chicago.
From From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life by Mahan, A. T. (Alfred Thayer)
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.
