prelude N. /序;先驱;先导/introduction; forerunner. I am afraid that this border raid is the prelude to more serious attacks.
premeditate V. /预谋，预先考虑/plan in advance. She had premeditated the murder for months, reading about common
poisons and buying weed killer that contained arsenic.
premise N. /假定，假设;前提/assumption; postulate. Based on the premise that there's no fool like an old fool, P. T.
Barnum hired a ninety-year-old clown for his circus.
premonition N. /前兆/forewarning. We ignored these premonitions of disaster because they appeared to be based on childish fears.
preposterous ADJ. /荒唐的/absurd; ridiculous. When he tried to downplay his youthful experiments with marijuana by
saying he hadn't inhaled, we all thought, "What a preposterous excuse!"
prerogative N. /特权/privilege; unquestionable right. The president cannot levy taxes; that is the prerogative of the
legislative branch of government.
presage V. /预示/foretell. The vultures flying overhead presaged the discovery of the corpse in the desert.
prescience N. /预示能力/ability to foretell the future. Given the current wave of Japan-bashing, it does not take
prescience for me to foresee problems in our future trade relations with Japan.
presentiment N. /预感/feeling something will happen; anticipatory fear; premonition. Saying goodbye at the airport,
Jack had a sudden presentiment that this was the last time he would see Jill.
prestige N. /声望;威信/impression produced by achievements or reputation. Many students want to go to Harvard
College not for the education offered but for the prestige of Harvard's name.
presumptuous ADJ. /自大;轻狂;专横/overconfident; impertinently bold; taking liberties. Matilda thought it was
somewhat presumptuous of the young man to have addressed her without first having been introduced. Perhaps manners were freer here in the New World.
pretentious ADJ. /自命不凡;华而不实;自大/ostentatious; pompous; making unjustified claims; overly ambitious. None of
the other prize winners are wearing their medals; isn't it a bit pretentious of you to wear yours?
preternatural ADJ. /超自然的/beyond what is normal in nature. Malcolm's mother's total ability to tell when he was
lying struck him as almost preternatural.
pretext N. /借口;托辞/excuse. He looked for a good pretext to get out of paying a visit to his aunt.
prevail V. /导致，促使;击败;盛行/induce; triumph over. He tried to prevail on her to type his essay for him.
prevalent ADJ. /普遍的;流行的/widespread; generally accepted. A radical committed to social change, Reed had no
patience with the conservative views prevalent in the America of his day.
prevaricate V. /撒谎;支吾，搪塞;糊弄/lie. Some people believe that to prevaricate in a good cause is justifiable and
regard such a statement as a "white lie."
prey N. /猎物;受害人，牺牲品/target of a hunt; victim. In Stalking the Wild Asparagus, Euell Gibbons has as his prey not
wild beasts but wild plants. alsoV.
prim ADJ. /整洁的;精准的，精确的/very precise and formal; exceedingly proper. Many people commented on the contrast
between the prim attire of the young lady and the inappropriate clothing worn by her escort.
primordial ADJ. /原始的;与时间同在的/existing at the beginning (of time); rudimentary. The Neanderthal Man is one of
our primordial ancestors.
primp V. /打扮/groom oneself with care; adorn oneself. The groom stood by idly while his nervous bride-to-be primped
one last time before the mirror.
pristine ADJ. /史前的;质朴的/characteristic of earlier times; primitive; unspoiled. This area has been preserved in all its
pristine wildness.
privation N. /困难，困苦;短缺，缺少/hardship; want. In his youth, he knew hunger and privation.
probe V. /探测/explore with tools. The surgeon probed the wound for foreign matter before suturing it. also
最新热文推荐：
