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A measure taken beforehand to ward off evil or secure good or success; a precautionary act; as, to take precautions against accident.

acking due deliberation or care; hurried; said or done before the time; as, a precipitate measure. "The rapidity of our too precipitate course." Landor.

minary observations to a discourse or book; preliminary articles to a treaty; preliminary measures; preliminary examinations.

That which makes ready, prepares the way, or introduces; a preparatory act or measure. I will show what preparations there were in nature for this dissolution. T. Burnet.

Preparing the way for anything by previous measures of adaptation; antecedent and adapted to what follows; introductory; preparative; as, a preparatory school; a preparatory condition.

To make one's self ready; to get ready; to take the necessary previous measures; as, to prepare for death.

se; we press substances with the hands, fingers, or arms; we are pressed in a crowd. Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together. Luke vi. 38.

To go on in an orderly or regulated manner; to begin and carry on a series of acts or measures; to act by method; to prosecute a design. He that proceeds upon other principles in his inquiry. Locke.

who prosecutes a design or transaction; progress or movement from one thing to another; a measure or step taken in a course of business; a transaction; as, an illegal proceeding; a cautious or a violent proceeding. The proceedings of the high commission. Macaulay.

Producing, or able to produce, in large measure; fertile; profitable. -- Pro*duc"tive*ly, adv. -- Pro*duc"tive*ness, n.

A plan proposed; a draft of a proposed measure; a project.

ntroductory essay or exercise. "Domestic prolusions." Thackeray. Her presence was in some measure a restraint on the worthy divine, whose prolusion lasted. Sir W. Scott.

The ordinary language of men in speaking or writing; language not cast in poetical measure or rhythm; -- contradistinguished from verse, or metrical composition. I speak in prose, and let him rymes make. Chaucer. Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme. Milton. I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely de…

blic or formal manner; to bear witness; to declare solemnly; to avow. He protest that his measures are pacific. Landor. The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Shak.

the strength of gunpowder or of ordnance; to prove the contents of a vessel by a standard measure. Thou hast proved mine heart. Ps. xvii. 3.

To procure supplies or means in advance; to take measures beforehand in view of an expected or a possible future need, especially a danger or an evil; -- followed by against or for; as, to provide against the inclemency of the weather; to provide for the education of a child. Government is a contrivance of human wisdom…

hat which is provided or prepared; that which is brought together or arranged in advance; measures taken beforehand; preparation. Making provision for the relief of strangers. Bacon.

ds the exercise of, discretion or prudence; -- usually in the pl. Many stanzas, in poetic measures, contain rules relating to common prudentials as well as to religion. I. Watts.

Dictated by a regard to public good; as, a public-spirited project or measure. Addison. -- Pub"lic-spir`it*ed*ly, adv. -- Pub"lic-spir`it*ed*ness, n.

he initiative or referendum, is mailed to the voters to inform them as to the nature of a measure submitted by the initiative or referendum. The pamphlet contains a copy of the proposed law and arguments for and against it by those favoring and opposing it, respectively.