From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Prime \Prime\, adjective [F., fr. L. primus first, a superl. corresponding to the compar. prior former. See {Prior}, adjective, {Foremost}, {Former}, and cf. {Prim}, adjective, {Primary}, {Prince}.]
1. First in order of time; original; primeval; primitive; primary. ''Prime forests.'' --Tennyson.
She was not the prime cause, but I myself. --Milton.
Note: In this sense the word is nearly superseded by primitive, except in the phrase prime cost.
2. First in rank, degree, dignity, authority, or importance; as, prime minister. ''Prime virtues.'' --Dryden.
3. First in excellence; of highest quality; as, prime wheat; a prime quality of cloth.
4. Early; blooming; being in the first stage. [Poetic]
His starry helm, unbuckled, showed him prime In manhood where youth ended. --Milton.
5. Lecherous; lustful; lewd. [Obs.] --Shak.
6. Marked or distinguished by a mark (') called a prime mark.
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.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
1. The first part; the earliest stage; the beginning or opening, as of the day, the year, etc.; hence, the dawn; the spring. --Chaucer.
In the very prime of the world. --Hooker.
Hope waits upon the flowery prime. --Waller.
2. The spring of life; youth; hence, full health, strength, or beauty; perfection. ''Cut off in their prime.'' --Eustace. ''The prime of youth.'' --Dryden.
3. That which is first in quantity; the most excellent portion; the best part.
Give him always of the prime. --Swift.
4. [F. prime, LL. prima (sc. hora). See {Prime}, adjective] The morning; specifically (R. C. Ch.), the first canonical hour, succeeding to lauds.
Early and late it rung, at evening and at prime. --Spenser.
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.
They sleep till that it was pryme large. --Chaucer.
5. (Fencing) The first of the chief guards.
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]
7. (Arith.) A prime number. See under {Prime}, adjective
8. An inch, as composed of twelve seconds in the duodecimal system; -- denoted by [']. See 2d {Inch}, noun, 1.
{Prime of the moon}, the new moon at its first appearance.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Prime \Prime\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Primed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Priming}.] [From {Prime}, adjective]
1. To apply priming to, as a musket or a cannon; to apply a primer to, as a metallic cartridge.
2. To lay the first color, coating, or preparation upon (a surface), as in painting; as, to prime a canvas, a wall.
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.
4. To trim or prune, as trees. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
5. (Math.) To mark with a prime mark.
{To prime a pump}, to charge a pump with water, in order to put it in working condition.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Prime \Prime\, verb (used without an object)
1. To be renewed, or as at first. [Obs.]
Night's bashful empress, though she often wane, As oft repeats her darkness, primes again. --Quarles.
2. To serve as priming for the charge of a gun.
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.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: first in rank or degree; "an architect of premier rank"; "the prime minister" [syn: {premier(a)}, {prime(a)}]
2: used of the first or originating agent; "prime mover" [syn: {prime(a)}]
3: of superior grade; "choice wines"; "prime beef"; "prize carnations"; "quality paper"; "select peaches" [syn: {choice}, {prime(a)}, {prize}, {quality}, {select}]
4: of or relating to or being an integer that cannot be factored into other integers; "prime number"
5: at the best stage; "our manhood's prime vigor"- Robert Browning
noun
1: a number that has no factor but itself and 1 [syn: {prime quantity}]
2: the period of greatest prosperity or productivity [syn: {flower}, {peak}, {heyday}, {bloom}, {blossom}, {efflorescence}, {flush}]
3: the second canonical hour; about 6 a.m.
4: the time of maturity when power and vigor are greatest [syn: {prime of life}]
verb
1: insert a primer into (a gun, mine, charge, etc.) preparatory to detonation or firing; "prime a cannon"; "prime a mine"
2: cover with a primer; apply a primer to [syn: {ground}, {undercoat}]
3: fill with priming liquid; "prime a car engine"
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
466 Moby Thesaurus words for "prime": Eastertide, Mass, Maytime, 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, 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, master, matchless, matins, mature age, maturity, 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
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