How to Use preliminary in a Sentence

preliminary

1 of 2 adjective
  • The team was eliminated in the preliminary round of the tournament.
  • Preliminary findings show that the drug could help patients with skin cancer.
  • So this is all very, very preliminary.
    — Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 1 Apr. 2026
  • Rates is out on bail and is due back in court next week for his preliminary hearing.
    — Shelley Bortz, CBS News, 7 Jan. 2026
  • The four parents did a preliminary search in vain.
    — Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 1 Mar. 2026
  • But a lot of this research is preliminary.
    — Korin Miller, SELF, 22 Sep. 2025
  • His preliminary cause of death has been ruled as a cardiac arrest.
    — Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 17 Oct. 2025
  • The group said its report is preliminary, and the number could rise.
    — Jessie Yeung, CNN Money, 4 Mar. 2026
  • The cause of death was based on the boy's preliminary autopsy.
    — Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 14 Aug. 2023
  • In preliminary-round games, those games would have gone to shootouts after a five-minute overtime.
    — Chris Johnston, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2026
  • The work is preliminary, with plan details not yet available.
    — Tom Daykin, jsonline.com, 2 Oct. 2025
  • This letter will include the amount the bank will lend you and a preliminary outline of your rate and terms.
    — Kelsey Neubauer, CNBC, 2 July 2026
  • Reiner waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing and no bail was granted.
    — Alli Rosenbloom, CNN Money, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Mars says its preliminary findings show none of the farms that have been mapped overlap with the reserve.
    — Taiwo Adebayo, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Dec. 2023
  • As of last month, some judges have had to hold preliminary hearings for a hundred people at the same time.
    — E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 20 June 2026
  • The company has just shared the preliminary details of this classy new plug-in minibus.
    — New Atlas, 5 Apr. 2026
  • The talks didn’t go beyond a highly preliminary stage.
    — Kamil Kowalcze, Bloomberg, 26 Apr. 2026
  • The plans are still in the preliminary stages and a construction start date isn’t available.
    — Khadejeh Nikouyeh, Charlotte Observer, 28 May 2026
  • One cautioned that the deal is preliminary and has not been finalized.
    — Brian Maass, CBS News, 20 May 2026
  • The idea is still preliminary and might need Congress to approve.
    — James Broughel, Forbes.com, 4 July 2026
  • The new video builds on the footage played in court two weeks ago during the first half of Rocky’s preliminary hearing.
    — Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 20 Nov. 2023
  • The pipeline is in preliminary stages.
    — Sarah Henry, AZCentral.com, 25 Oct. 2025
  • The preliminary plan calls for five stories of apartments atop two floors of covered parking.
    — Mark Dee may 6, Idaho Statesman, 6 May 2026
  • The preliminary hearing is expected to last through the week.
    — Kelly Davis, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 June 2023
  • In the preliminary rounds, each category had its own mood.
    — Sarah Larson, New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Evro is set for a preliminary hearing in July.
    — Karen Morfitt, CBS News, 26 June 2026
  • The preliminary cause of death was multiple sharp-force injuries.
    — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 29 Jan. 2026
  • Keep in mind, the list below might change since this information is preliminary.
    — Linh Tat, Daily News, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Online jail records show Lewis is facing a preliminary charge of murder.
    — John Tufts, The Indianapolis Star, 2 Aug. 2023
  • Including preliminary fights, the event ran for nearly six hours.
    — Matt Moret, New York Times, 29 Sep. 2025

preliminary

2 of 2 noun
  • This year marked the first time the preliminaries were captured via livestream.
    — Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2019
  • For once, maybe a city could skip the preliminaries of ego and just settle the matter.
    — Lauren Ritchie, OrlandoSentinel.com, 2 Mar. 2018
  • Triple jumper Chaquinn Cook didn't get out of the preliminaries.
    — Ken Goe, OregonLive.com, 9 June 2018
  • Santana finished a weak fourth in the preliminary.
    — Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 21 Oct. 2025
  • That left Dana Vollmer as the odd woman out in the preliminaries.
    — Karen Crouse, New York Times, 7 Aug. 2016
  • Here’s a look at Watts in the evening gown and active wear preliminaries on Friday.
    — Mary Colurso | [email protected], al, 6 Oct. 2019
  • Felicia made the podium at state, while Tayla fouled out in the state preliminaries.
    — Andrew Turner, latimes.com, 28 Apr. 2018
  • And perhaps 30 percent get frustrated by the preliminaries to news videos (ads) and give up.
    — James Warren, The Hive, 24 Oct. 2017
  • The disappointing preliminary told us the winds of change in Boston are still but a breeze, not nearly strong enough to propel the change the city needs.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 22 Sep. 2021
  • His preliminary is scheduled to begin May 26.
    — Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 30 Apr. 2026
  • Burke's preliminary is scheduled to begin May 26.
    — Christine Pelisek, PEOPLE, 30 Apr. 2026
  • Is it reduced to yet another fill-in-the-blank preliminary to a national title game in some super-duper-they-look-alike stadium?
    — Los Angeles Times, 2 Jan. 2026
  • The sheriff's office preliminary determined that the body belonged to the missing teenager.
    — Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Aug. 2025
  • Both had done well in the preliminaries (obviously), but there was not much fire this time, even in a work such as Prokofiev’s Sonata No.
    — Olin Chism, star-telegram.com, 30 May 2017
  • Gillespie didn't get through the 200 preliminaries, which leaves him with just one race on which to concentrate on Friday.
    — Tim Brown, OregonLive.com, 6 June 2018
  • King’s supporters had hoped the Black turnout that had propelled him in the preliminary would give King the edge that November.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 5 Apr. 2021
  • Galvin’s spokesperson said the issue was not related with the city’s administration of the preliminary.
    — Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Meyer earned the state-meet record with his throw of 68 feet, 8 inches from Friday’s preliminaries, which carried over for the win.
    — Steve Soucie, Daily Southtown, 27 May 2018
  • One more game, before the Warriors are through the preliminaries, and onto the Cavaliers.
    — Tim Kawakami, The Mercury News, 20 May 2017
  • Tickets to the mixed archery preliminary set me back $110 each, then $85 each for the mixed equestrian preliminary.
    — Personal Finance Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle, 8 Apr. 2026
  • The league meet consisted of swim preliminaries May 2 and diving May 3 as well as the swim finals May 4.
    — Joe Naiman, sandiegouniontribune.com, 6 May 2018
  • Essaibi George won four of every five votes cast in this precinct during the preliminary, her strongest showing anywhere in the city — and the best showing of any candidate in any precinct in the city.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 30 Oct. 2021
  • When Lorig ran second in the preliminaries to Bartlett’s Marquez Nevitte, the whispers started.
    — Chris Bieri, Anchorage Daily News, 29 May 2023
  • Tennyson never made it to the Southern Section track preliminaries after winning the league title.
    — Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 17 May 2026
  • Murphy, a favorite among moderate and conservative voters, finished third in the preliminary.
    — Joe Battenfeld, Boston Herald, 21 Oct. 2025
  • Switzerland crushed Germany in the men’s curling preliminaries, keeping a consistent lead before ending the game with a score of 8-4.
    — Andrew Greif, NBC news, 17 Feb. 2026
  • Lower‑demand preliminaries will likely be the most affordable, while high‑profile events—gymnastics finals, swimming finals, track and field, and the opening ceremony—will sit at the top end of the pricing spectrum.
    — Paris Wilson, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Jan. 2026
  • Given her form, the coaches only picked her to swim the preliminary of the 4x200 free relay, a decision that would have seemed unfathomable just a few months ago but didn't meet with any protest from Franklin.
    — ABC News, 11 Aug. 2016
  • The hockey playoffs weren’t affected by the storm and are expected to start on March 2 with Division II preliminaries.
    — Jacob Rousseau, The Providence Journal, 26 Feb. 2026
  • The meet continues Thursday, a day consisting largely of women’s preliminaries, followed by men’s finals Friday and women’s finals Saturday.
    — Mike Wilson, New York Times, 11 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'preliminary.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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