Definition of "preliminary" []

• Prior to or preparing for the main matter, action, or business; introductory or prefatory. (adjective)
• Something that precedes, prepares for, or introduces the main matter, action, or business. (noun)
• An academic test or examination that is preparatory to one that is longer, more complex, or more important. (noun)
• Sports A contest to determine the finalists in a competition. (noun)
• Sports An event that precedes the main event of a particular program, especially in boxing or wrestling. (noun)

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.

• ""This smells to high holy heaven, because when you look at the Illinois report, nowhere was the word preliminary ever used," Weiss said, noting that the fusion center - which is composed of Illinois state police, as well as representatives from the FBI and DHS - distributed the report to other critical infrastructure facilities in that state."
• "White House Press Secretary Tony Snow told reporters earlier this morning that there haven't been any run-throughs just yet, but certainly the president has had time to review what he called preliminary drafts."
• "FEMA has mobilized what they call preliminary disaster assessment teams, those who are going down to Florida from places like Georgia."