Precedence

/ˈpɹɛsɪd(ə)ns/ · noun

Meaning

The state of preceding in importance or priority..

Definitions by Sense

1. The state of preceding in importance or priority.
2. Precedent.

Example Sentences

Family takes precedence over work, in an emergency.

[…] where there is then no good / For which to strive, no strife can grow up there / From faction; for none sure will claim in hell / Precedence, none, whose portion is so small / Of present pain, that with ambitious mind / Will covet more.

I wrote to […] Mr. Payne, who was wholly unconscious that we were engaged on the same work, and freely offered him precedence and possession of the field till no longer wanted.

In the city of Zenith, in the barbarous twentieth century, a family's motor indicated its social rank as precisely as the grades of the peerage determined the rank of an English family—indeed, more precisely, considering the opinion of old county families upon newly created brewery barons and woolen-mill viscounts. The details of precedence were never officially determined.

he saw to my twelve packages on one hand while on the other he dealt with the Emir of the Sea, the harbour master, who in a green gown and yellow turban, was demanding precedence of some sort.

The orderlies, only too well aware of the niceties of the colour-conscious system that prevailed, debated, then sent one of their number to ask the matron what should be done. The matron said that Cho must give precedence. He was laid on the concrete floor.

[…] A fool alone will / contest the precedence of ancestors / and gods; the wise wisely / sing them grandiloquent lullabies / knowing they are children / those omnipotent deities.

For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.

Synonyms for precedence

Antonyms for precedence

Related Words

Word Forms

• precedences

Usage Notes

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