PREFER (preferred, preferring)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: preferred    , preferring   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does prefer mean? 

• PREFER (verb)
  The verb PREFER has 4 senses:

1. like better; value more highly

2. select as an alternative over another

3. promote over another

4. give preference to one creditor over another

  Familiarity information: PREFER used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PREFER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they prefer    ... he / she / it prefers   
Past simple: preferred   
Past participle: preferred   
-ing form: preferring   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Like better; value more highly

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

We prefer sleeping outside

Hypernyms (to "prefer" is one way to...):

like (find enjoyable or agreeable)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s something to somebody
Somebody ----s to somebody
Somebody ----s VERB-ing

Sentence example:

They prefer him to write the letter

Derivation:

preference (a strong liking)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Select as an alternative over another

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

choose; opt; prefer

Context example:

She opted for the job on the East coast

"Prefer" entails doing...:

compare (examine and note the similarities or differences of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "prefer"):

cop out; opt out (choose not to do something, as out of fear of failing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Sentence example:

They prefer him to write the letter

Derivation:

preference (a predisposition in favor of something)

preferment (the act of preferring)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Promote over another

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

favor; favour; prefer

Context example:

he favors his second daughter

Hypernyms (to "prefer" is one way to...):

advance; elevate; kick upstairs; promote; raise; upgrade (give a promotion to or assign to a higher position)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "prefer"):

advantage (give an advantage to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

preferment (the act of preferring)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Give preference to one creditor over another

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "prefer" is one way to...):

pay (give money, usually in exchange for goods or services)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

 Context examples 

No thank you, says he; I should much prefer not to go aboard.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I, for one, if I must listen to Mr. Butler, prefer to hear him talk about his law.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

She could do nothing but glide in quietly and look at him; but when able to talk or be talked to, or read to, Edmund was the companion he preferred.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

I strove to compel myself to think we would make the landing safely, and so I spoke, not what I believed, but what I preferred to believe.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“I should prefer to have the horse.”

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“If you prefer a public explanation, it must come sooner or later,” said he.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Of the two, I would have much preferred to be the object of the latter.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

OH, also called hydroxyl, doesn’t stay on its own for long, preferring to attack molecules or attach itself chemically to them.

(On Second Thought, the Moon's Water May Be Widespread and Immobile, NASA)

"I'd prefer being taken for a prospector or a dog-musher."

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He killed to eat, not from wantonness; but he preferred to eat what he killed himself.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)