Definition of "prime rate" []

• The lowest rate of interest on bank loans at a given time and place, offered to preferred borrowers. Also called prime interest rate. (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.

• "The IDL is the percentage rate that the prime rate must achieve in order to trigger a switch."
• "From March 1987 to October 1987, while the prime rate rose from 7V2% to 9V4%, bond investments dropped 10% to 20% in value."
• "As I write this, the prime rate is 7.75%, so Money Movement investors would wait until the prime rate reaches or exceeds the 9% level before moving from stock to money market mutual funds."