primaryadj/ˈpɹaɪ.m(ə.)ɹi/

• 1

  First or earliest in a group or series.

  • Children attend primary school, and teenagers attend secondary school.
  • the church of Christ, in its primary institution
• 2

  Main; principal; chief; placed ahead of others.

• 3

  geographygeologynatural-sciencesEarliest formed; fundamental.

  • Preferred stock has primary claim on dividends, ahead of common stock.
• 4

  chemistrynatural-sciencesphysical-sciencesIllustrating, possessing, or characterized by, some quality or property in the first degree; having undergone the first stage of substitution or replacement.

• 5

  medicinesciencesRelating to the place where a disorder or disease started to occur.

• 6

  medicinesciencesRelating to day-to-day care provided by health professionals such as nurses, general practitioners, dentists etc.

primarynoun/ˈpɹaɪ.m(ə.)ɹi/

• 1

  political-sciencesocial-sciencesA primary election; a preliminary election to select a political candidate of a political party, or the first round of a two-round election.

  • In recent primaries, for example, nearly 4% of absentees were rejected in Philadelphia; 8% in Kentucky; and 20% in parts of New York City.
  • Before Americans pick a president in November, they get to pick the candidates in a series of primaries and caucuses. […] Biden could still win New Hampshire’s primary through a write-in campaign, but the first sanctioned Democratic contest is in South Carolina in February.
• 2

  The first year of grade school.

• 3

  A base or fundamental component; something that is irreducible.

• 4

  The most massive component of a gravitationally bound system, such as a planet in relation to its satellites.

• 5

  A primary school.

  • Excellence in Cities offers a further development of this approach, whereby secondary schools operate with small clusters of primaries as mini-EAZs.
• 6

  biologynatural-sciencesornithologyAny flight feather attached to the manus (hand) of a bird.

  • `Good Lord, look at that swiftlet, it's got two primaries missing from its left wing!'
• 7

  A primary colour.

  • By adding and subtracting the three primaries, cyan, yellow, and magenta are produced. These are called subtractive primaries.
• 8

  governmentmilitarypoliticsThe first stage of a thermonuclear weapon, which sets off a fission explosion to help trigger a fusion reaction in the weapon's secondary stage.

primaryverb/ˈpɹaɪ.m(ə.)ɹi/

• 1

  governmentpoliticsTo challenge (an incumbent sitting politician) for their political party's nomination to run for re-election, through running a challenger campaign in a primary election, especially one that is more ideologically extreme.

  • In the New England town where he ran a “couple of night clubs” . he was “primarying the mayor."
  • What political facts of life underpin the hopes and dreams of democratic politicians who would take on the awesome task of “primarying” a two-term incumbent governor
• 2

  To take part in a primary election.

  • Both were worried that Bailey would break some of their delegate commitments to keep them from primarying.
  • First, I'd challenge my opponent for the convention nomination. If I didn't prevail at the convention, that would be my answer. I wouldn't “primary” him—meaning, I wouldn't force a statewide primary election if he and I were the only two candidates in the field.