'Prime' definitions:
Definition of 'prime'
From: WordNet
adjective
First in rank or degree; "an architect of premier rank"; "the prime minister" [syn: premier(a), prime(a)]
adjective
Used of the first or originating agent; "prime mover"
adjective
Of superior grade; "choice wines"; "prime beef"; "prize carnations"; "quality paper"; "select peaches" [syn: choice, prime(a), prize, quality, select]
adjective
Of or relating to or being an integer that cannot be factored into other integers; "prime number"
adjective
Being at the best stage of development; "our manhood's prime vigor"- Robert Browning [syn: prime, meridian]
noun
A number that has no factor but itself and 1 [syn: prime, prime quantity]
noun
The period of greatest prosperity or productivity [syn: flower, prime, peak, heyday, bloom, blossom, efflorescence, flush]
noun
The second canonical hour; about 6 a.m.
noun
The time of maturity when power and vigor are greatest [syn: prime, prime of life]
verb
Insert a primer into (a gun, mine, or charge) preparatory to detonation or firing; "prime a cannon"; "prime a mine"
verb
verb
Fill with priming liquid; "prime a car engine"
Definition of 'Prime'
From: GCIDE
- Prime \Prime\, a. [F., fr. L. primus first, a superl. corresponding to the compar. prior former. See Prior, a., Foremost, Former, and cf. Prim, a., Primary, Prince.]
- 1. First in order of time; original; primeval; primitive; primary. "Prime forests." --Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
- She was not the prime cause, but I myself. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- Note: In this sense the word is nearly superseded by primitive, except in the phrase prime cost. [1913 Webster]
- 2. First in rank, degree, dignity, authority, or importance; as, prime minister. "Prime virtues." --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- 3. First in excellence; of highest quality; as, prime wheat; a prime quality of cloth. [1913 Webster]
- 4. Early; blooming; being in the first stage. [Poetic] [1913 Webster]
- His starry helm, unbuckled, showed him prime In manhood where youth ended. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
- 5. Lecherous; lustful; lewd. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]
- 6. Marked or distinguished by a mark (') called a prime mark.
- Note: In this dictionary the same typographic mark is used to indicate a weak accent in headwords, and minutes of a degree in angle measurements. [1913 Webster]
- 7. (Math.) (a) Divisible by no number except itself or unity; as, 7 is a prime number. (b) Having no common factor; -- used with to; as, 12 is prime to 25. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
- Prime and ultimate ratio. (Math.). See Ultimate.
- Prime conductor. (Elec.) See under Conductor.
- Prime factor (Arith.), a factor which is a prime number.
- Prime figure (Geom.), a figure which can not be divided into any other figure more simple than itself, as a triangle, a pyramid, etc.
- Prime meridian (Astron.), the meridian from which longitude is reckoned, as the meridian of Greenwich or Washington.
- Prime minister, the responsible head of a ministry or executive government; applied particularly to that of England.
- Prime mover. (Mech.) (a) A natural agency applied by man to the production of power. Especially: Muscular force; the weight and motion of fluids, as water and air; heat obtained by chemical combination, and applied to produce changes in the volume and pressure of steam, air, or other fluids; and electricity, obtained by chemical action, and applied to produce alternation of magnetic force. (b) An engine, or machine, the object of which is to receive and modify force and motion as supplied by some natural source, and apply them to drive other machines; as a water wheel, a water-pressure engine, a steam engine, a hot-air engine, etc. (c) Fig.: The original or the most effective force in any undertaking or work; as, Clarkson was the prime mover in English antislavery agitation.
- Prime number (Arith.), a number which is exactly divisible by no number except itself or unity, as 5, 7, 11.
- Prime vertical (Astron.), the vertical circle which passes through the east and west points of the horizon.
- Prime-vertical dial, a dial in which the shadow is projected on the plane of the prime vertical.
- Prime-vertical transit instrument, a transit instrument the telescope of which revolves in the plane of the prime vertical, -- used for observing the transit of stars over this circle. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Prime'
From: GCIDE
- Prime \Prime\, v. i.
- 1. To be renewed, or as at first. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
- Night's bashful empress, though she often wane, As oft repeats her darkness, primes again. --Quarles. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To serve as priming for the charge of a gun. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To work so that foaming occurs from too violent ebullition, which causes water to become mixed with, and be carried along with, the steam that is formed; -- said of a steam boiler. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Prime'
From: GCIDE
- Prime \Prime\, n.
- 1. The first part; the earliest stage; the beginning or opening, as of the day, the year, etc.; hence, the dawn; the spring. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- In the very prime of the world. --Hooker. [1913 Webster]
- Hope waits upon the flowery prime. --Waller. [1913 Webster]
- 2. The spring of life; youth; hence, full health, strength, or beauty; perfection. "Cut off in their prime." --Eustace. "The prime of youth." --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- 3. That which is first in quantity; the most excellent portion; the best part. [1913 Webster]
- Give him always of the prime. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
- 4. [F. prime, LL. prima (sc. hora). See Prime, a.] The morning; specifically (R. C. Ch.), the first canonical hour, succeeding to lauds. [1913 Webster]
- Early and late it rung, at evening and at prime. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
- Note: Originally, prime denoted the first quarter of the artificial day, reckoned from 6 a. m. to 6 p. m. Afterwards, it denoted the end of the first quarter, that is, 9 a. m. Specifically, it denoted the first canonical hour, as now. Chaucer uses it in all these senses, and also in the sense of def. 1, above. [1913 Webster]
- They sleep till that it was pryme large. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
- 5. (Fencing) The first of the chief guards. [1913 Webster]
- 6. (Chem.) Any number expressing the combining weight or equivalent of any particular element; -- so called because these numbers were respectively reduced to their lowest relative terms on the fixed standard of hydrogen as 1. [Obs. or Archaic] [1913 Webster]
- 7. (Arith.) A prime number. See under Prime, a. [1913 Webster]
- 8. An inch, as composed of twelve seconds in the duodecimal system; -- denoted by [']. See 2d Inch, n., 1. [1913 Webster]
- Prime of the moon, the new moon at its first appearance. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'Prime'
From: GCIDE
- Prime \Prime\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Primed; p. pr. & vb. n. Priming.] [From Prime, a.]
- 1. To apply priming to, as a musket or a cannon; to apply a primer to, as a metallic cartridge. [1913 Webster]
- 2. To lay the first color, coating, or preparation upon (a surface), as in painting; as, to prime a canvas, a wall. [1913 Webster]
- 3. To prepare; to make ready; to instruct beforehand; to post; to coach; as, to prime a witness; the boys are primed for mischief. [Colloq.] --Thackeray. [1913 Webster]
- 4. To trim or prune, as trees. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] [1913 Webster]
- 5. (Math.) To mark with a prime mark. [1913 Webster]
- To prime a pump, to charge a pump with water, in order to put it in working condition. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'prime'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- abecedarian,
- aboriginal,
- acme,
- admirable,
- adolescence,
- adulthood,
- adultness,
- advise,
- age of consent,
- algorismic,
- algorithmic,
- aliquot,
- all-absorbing,
- alpha,
- ancestral,
- antecedent,
- antenatal,
- antepatriarchal,
- anterior,
- anticipatory,
- apply paint,
- apprise,
- arch,
- atavistic,
- aurora,
- autochthonous,
- banner,
- basic,
- bedaub,
- bedizen,
- bedtime prayer,
- begild,
- beginning,
- besmear,
- best,
- break of day,
- breaking-in,
- brief,
- brightening,
- brush on paint,
- budding,
- budtime,
- butter,
- calcimine,
- camp meeting,
- capital,
- cardinal,
- central,
- champion,
- chanticleer,
- charge,
- chief,
- choice,
- chosen,
- church,
- church service,
- ci-devant,
- coach,
- coat,
- cock,
- cockcrow,
- cocklight,
- color,
- complexion,
- compline,
- controlling,
- cover,
- crack of dawn,
- cram,
- cram with facts,
- cream,
- creative,
- crowning,
- dab,
- dandy,
- daub,
- dawn,
- dawning,
- day-peep,
- daybreak,
- daylight,
- dayspring,
- decimal,
- deep-dye,
- detonate,
- devotions,
- differential,
- digital,
- dip,
- discharge,
- distemper,
- divine service,
- dominant,
- double-dye,
- drill,
- driving age,
- drop,
- duty,
- dye,
- earlier,
- earliest,
- early,
- Eastertide,
- educate,
- eject,
- elder,
- elect,
- elemental,
- elementary,
- elite,
- emblazon,
- embryonic,
- enamel,
- engild,
- even,
- evening devotions,
- evensong,
- excellent,
- exceptional,
- excite,
- exercises,
- exponential,
- extraordinary,
- face,
- famous,
- fast-dye,
- fat,
- fell,
- fetal,
- figural,
- figurate,
- figurative,
- fine,
- finite,
- fire,
- fire off,
- first,
- first blush,
- first brightening,
- first glance,
- first impression,
- first inning,
- first lap,
- first move,
- first round,
- first sight,
- first stage,
- first step,
- first-class,
- first-rate,
- first-string,
- flower,
- flower of age,
- focal,
- for the best,
- fore,
- foregoing,
- forehand,
- foremost,
- formative,
- former,
- forward,
- foundational,
- fractional,
- fresco,
- front,
- frontal,
- full age,
- full bloom,
- full growth,
- fullgrownness,
- fundamental,
- galvanize,
- gambit,
- gestatory,
- get ready,
- get up steam,
- gild,
- glaze,
- gloss,
- grain,
- great,
- greatest,
- greenness,
- grown-upness,
- gun,
- gun for,
- handpicked,
- head,
- headmost,
- hegemonic,
- heyday,
- highest,
- hit,
- hue,
- humanoid,
- illuminate,
- imaginary,
- imbue,
- impair,
- impossible,
- in embryo,
- in its infancy,
- in the bud,
- inaugural,
- inceptive,
- inchoate,
- inchoative,
- incipient,
- incunabular,
- infant,
- infantile,
- infinite,
- inform,
- ingrain,
- initial,
- initiative,
- initiatory,
- instruct,
- integral,
- introductory,
- inventive,
- irrational,
- japan,
- juvenility,
- lacquer,
- lauds,
- lay on,
- lay on color,
- le premier pas,
- leading,
- legal age,
- legalis homo,
- let fly,
- let off,
- light,
- liturgy,
- load,
- logarithmic,
- logometric,
- magisterial,
- maiden,
- main,
- majority,
- make ready,
- manhood,
- manlihood,
- Mass,
- master,
- matchless,
- matins,
- mature age,
- maturity,
- Maytime,
- meeting,
- morn,
- morning devotions,
- motivate,
- move,
- nascent,
- natal,
- negative,
- night song,
- none,
- nones,
- nonesuch,
- nonpareil,
- noteworthy,
- notify,
- novena,
- numeral,
- numerary,
- numerative,
- numeric,
- odd,
- office,
- older,
- opening move,
- optimal,
- optimum,
- ordinal,
- original,
- outstanding,
- overriding,
- overruling,
- paint,
- pair,
- paragon,
- paramount,
- parget,
- parturient,
- patriarchal,
- peak,
- peep of day,
- peerless,
- pelt,
- pepper,
- pick,
- pick off,
- picked,
- pigment,
- pinnacle,
- pioneer,
- pique,
- pistol,
- plug,
- positive,
- possible,
- postnatal,
- pot,
- potshoot,
- potshot,
- praise meeting,
- prayer,
- prayer meeting,
- prayers,
- preadamite,
- preceding,
- precurrent,
- predominant,
- preeminent,
- preexistent,
- preglacial,
- pregnant,
- prehistoric,
- prehuman,
- premier,
- prenatal,
- prepare,
- preponderant,
- prevailing,
- previous,
- pride,
- primal,
- primary,
- primavera,
- prime of life,
- prime song,
- primeval,
- primitive,
- primitiveness,
- primitivity,
- primogenial,
- primoprimitive,
- primordial,
- principal,
- prior,
- pristine,
- prize,
- procreative,
- protohistoric,
- protohuman,
- puberty,
- pubescence,
- public worship,
- queen,
- quicken,
- quintessence,
- quintessential,
- radical,
- ranking,
- rational,
- real,
- reciprocal,
- revival,
- revival meeting,
- riddle,
- ripe age,
- riper years,
- rudimental,
- rudimentary,
- ruling,
- seedtime,
- select,
- senior,
- service,
- set,
- sext,
- shade,
- shadow,
- shellac,
- shoot,
- shoot at,
- shoot down,
- slap on,
- slather,
- slop on paint,
- smear,
- smear on,
- snipe,
- sovereign,
- spread on,
- spread with,
- spring,
- springtide,
- springtime,
- stain,
- star,
- steam up,
- stellar,
- stimulate,
- stipple,
- strike,
- stuff with knowledge,
- submultiple,
- sunrise,
- sunup,
- supereminent,
- superior,
- superlative,
- supreme,
- surd,
- surpassing,
- take a potshot,
- tar,
- teach,
- tent meeting,
- the best,
- the best ever,
- the tops,
- the very best,
- tierce,
- tinct,
- tincture,
- tinge,
- tint,
- toga virilis,
- tone,
- top,
- topflight,
- torpedo,
- train,
- transcendental,
- tutor,
- undercoat,
- underived,
- undersong,
- unmatchable,
- unmatched,
- unparalleled,
- unsurpassed,
- uppermost,
- ur,
- varnish,
- very best,
- vesper,
- vespers,
- vestibule of Day,
- vigils,
- virility,
- warm up,
- warming-up,
- wash,
- watch meeting,
- watch night,
- watch-night service,
- whitewash,
- wind,
- wind up,
- womanhood,
- womanlihood,
- worthy,
- years of discretion,
- youth,
- youthfulness,
- zenith
Words containing 'Prime'
- Primed,
- Primely,
- Primeness,
- Priming,
- Prime Donne,
- Prime conductor,
- Prime factor,
- Prime figure,
- Prime meridian,
- Prime minister,
- Prime mover,
- Prime number,
- Prime of the moon,
- Prime vertical,
- Priming of the tide,
- Priming tube,
- Priming valve,
- Priming wire,
- To prime a pump,
- prime of life,
- prime quantity,
- prime time,
- priming coat,
- pump priming,
- Pack and prime road,
- Pack and prime way,
- Prime and ultimate ratio,
- Prime vertical dial,
- prime interest rate,
- Prime-vertical dial,
- Prime-vertical transit instrument