Pre

//ˈpɹi// name, noun, prep, verb, slang

name, noun, prep, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Clipping of predrinks. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, in-plural, slang, uncountable

    "This one's for a short and sweet pres before heading to the club. If you're aiming to get absolutely SMASHED in a short amount of time, this is the game for you!"

  2. 2
    Clipping of precum. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, slang, uncountable
  3. 3
    Clipping of preparty. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, slang, uncountable

    "The formal is about 95 per cent hype and hysteria, and about 5 per cent actual formal, and the pre-formal gathering of parents and kids is about as hypey and hysterical as it gets... After the pres, the night mirrors the increasing pain of high heels as they go from shiny and exciting to plain uncomfortable."

  4. 4
    Clipping of prefect. UK, abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, countable, dated, slang, uncountable

    "“If a pre looked in now —” “Or Quelch—!” grinned the Bounder. “They'd have him!” said Bob Cherry. “Better wake him up.”"

Verb
  1. 1
    Clipping of pre-drink. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, slang

    "This view alone is reason enough to book up this place for a girl's weekend. Imagine preing outside the city lights, playing the Lemonade visual album full blast on Apple TV."

  2. 2
    Clipping of precum. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, slang
Preposition
  1. 1
    Before (something significant).

    "In the posting, Matthews said he wished that, “more blacks [sic] people would look into ancient beliefs of pre Christian Africa.”"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The station code of Prince Edward in Hong Kong.

Example

More examples

"Industrial and power outputs have stagnated for years at a fraction of pre-1990 levels."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Latin prae (“in front of”); see pre-.

Etymology 2

Clippings.

Related phrases

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.