Definition of "preferential" []

• Of, relating to, or giving advantage or preference: preferential treatment. (adjective)
• Manifesting or originating from partiality or preference: preferential tariff rates. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "To slide the topic away from education, I'm not sure why Tyler chose to emphasize bilateral trade agreements rather than progress with the Doha Round, particularly since we know the welfare ambiguities inherent in preferential trade liberalization."
• "The Lib Dems are the central backer of the electoral-reform measure, which would dump the U.K.'s longtime voting system—known as "first past the post"—for what is known as a preferential model."
• "Harry Tuttle lists "20 films, roughly in preferential order.""