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primary
has definitions from the fields of politics,zoology,physics,education
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[ adjective ] of first rank or importance or value; direct and immediate rather than secondhand
Examples "primary goals" "a primary effect" "primary sources" "a primary interest" Used in print (Bern Dibner, "Oerstad and the Discovery of Electro...)The experiments of Romagnosi and_others have already been noted but no one had determined the cause and effect relationship between these two primary forces . (John F. Hayward, "Mimesis and Symbol in the Arts"...)This is the primary function of the imagination operating in the absence of the original experiential stimulus by which the images were first appropriated . (R. F. Shaw, "The `Private Eye`"...)Today the private_detective will also investigate insurance_claims or handle divorce cases , but his primary function remains what it has always been , to assist those who have money in their unending struggle with those who have not . (Newton Stallknecht, "Ideas and Literature," in Newton S...)But , in_general , we may argue that the student can direct the primary emphasis of his attention toward one or the other . Here we may observe that at_least one modern philosophy of history is built on the assumption that ideas are the primary objectives of the historian 's research . Related terms secondary original firsthand particular direct capital first-string first essential original elementary |
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[ adjective ] not derived from or reducible to something else; basic
Synonyms Examples "a primary instinct" Used in print (Walter H. Buchsbaum, "Advances in Medical Electronics"...)The result is a color picture of the specimen where the primary colors correspond to the three different ultraviolet wavelengths . (John F. Hayward, "Mimesis and Symbol in the Arts"...)Underlying these conceptions of mimesis are certain presuppositions concerning the nature of primary human experience which require some exposition before the main argument can proceed . Neither is primary experience understood according_to the attitude of modern empiricism in which nothing is thought to be received other_than signals of sensory qualities producing their responses in the appropriate sense_organs . Primary feelings of the world come neither as a collection of clearly known objects ( houses , trees , implements , etc . ) nor a collection of isolated and neutral sensory qualities . In_contrast_to all this , primary data are data of a self involved in environing processes and powers . Related terms |
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[ adjective ] most important element
Examples "the chief aim of living" "the main doors were of solid glass" "the principal rivers of America" "the principal example" "policemen were primary targets" Used in print (The Rev. John A. O'Brien, "Let's Take Birth Control...)The Roman_Catholic natural-law tradition regards as self-evident that the primary objective purpose of the conjugal act is procreation and that the fostering of the mutual love of the spouses is the secondary and subjective end . Thus , man can readily deduce that the primary objective end of the conjugal act is procreation , the propagation of the race . One is the primary purpose for which marriage exists , namely , the continuance of the race through the gift and heritage of children ; the other is the paramount importance in married life of deliberate and thoughtful self-control '' . In 1930 , the Lambeth_Conference again affirmed the primary purpose of marriage to be the procreation of children , but conceded that , in certain limited circumstances , contraception might be morally legitimate . The general Protestant conviction is that motives , rather than methods , form the primary moral issue , provided the methods are limited to the prevention of conception '' . Related terms |
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[ noun ] (politics) a preliminary election where delegates or nominees are chosen
Synonyms Used in print (The Atlanta Constitution...)The September October term jury had been charged by Fulton Superior_Court_Judge_Durwood_Pye to investigate reports of possible `` irregularities '' in the hard-fought primary which was won by Mayor-nominate_Ivan_Allen_Jr. . He will be succeeded by Ivan_Allen_Jr. , who became a candidate in the Sept. 13 primary after Mayor_Hartsfield announced that he would not run for reelection . Five per_cent of the voters in each county must sign petitions requesting that the Republicans be allowed to place names of candidates on the general_election ballot , or The Republicans must hold a primary under the county unit system - a system which the party opposes in its platform . Related terms |
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[ noun ] (zoology) one of the main flight feathers projecting along the outer edge of a bird's wing
Synonyms Used in print (E. Lucas Myers, "The Vindication of Dr. Nestor,"...)That first entry there is the Vermont_Flumenophobe , the earliest and one of the most successful of my eighty-three varieties - great big scapulars and hardly any primaries at_all . Related terms |
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[ adjective ] of or being the essential or basic part
Synonyms Examples "an elementary need for love and nurturing" Related terms |
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[ adjective ] (education) of elementary education
Synonyms Examples "a basal reader" "children in the beginning reading classes" "the primary grades" Related terms |
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[ noun ] (physics) coil forming the part of an electrical circuit such that changing current in it induces a current in a neighboring circuit
Synonyms Examples "current through the primary coil induces current in the secondary coil" Related terms |
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