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The first minister of state; the prime minister.

Highest pitch; elevation reached; loftiness; prime; glory; as, to be in the pride of one's life. A falcon, towering in her pride of place. Shak.

The state or condition of being prime or first, as in time, place, rank, etc., hence, excellency; supremacy. [R.] De Quincey.

Of or pertaining to the beginning or origin, or to early times; original; primordial; primeval; first; as, primitive innocence; the primitive church. "Our primitive great sire." Milton.

everal varieties, as the white-, the red-, the yellow-flowered, etc. Formerly called also primerole, primerolles.

Being in its prime. [Obs.] "The youth of primy nature." Shak.

A thing of chief or prime importance; something fundamental or especially conspicuous. Specifically:

A prince; one invested with sovereignty. "Next upstood Nisroch, of principalities the prime." Milton.

Belonging to the earliest period or state; original; primitive; primeval; as, the pristine state of innocence; the pristine manners of a people; pristine vigor.

lock (Firearms), one in which the hammer rebounds to half cock after striking the cap or primer.

A tool used for applying a fresh percussion cap or primer to a cartridge shell in reloading it.

The state of being savage; savageness; savagism. A like work of primeval savagery. C. Kingsley.

; as, a primary school; a common school; a grammar school. As he sat in the school at his primer. Chaucer.

e, perhaps, insignificant. The schoolmaster is abroad; and I trust to him, armed with his primer, against the soldier in full military array. Brougham.

ven forward by something. The first nautilus that scudded upon the glassy surface of warm primeval oceans. I. Taylor. The wind was high; the vast white clouds scudded over the blue heaven. Beaconsfield.

t time; proper conjuncture; as, the season for planting; the season for rest. The season, prime for sweetest scents and airs. Milton.

In the duodecimal system of mensuration, the twelfth part of an inch or prime; a line. See Inch, and Prime, n., 8.

A priming tube, or friction primer. See under Priming, and Friction.

Not essential; not of prime importance; not indispensable; unimportant. Addison.

A vertical line, plane, or circle. Prime vertical, Prime vertical dial. See under Prime, a.