noun
- preliminary elections or contests held before the main primary elections, often used to narrow the field of candidates
Usage: plural form; chiefly used in U.S. political contexts
Examples
- Several candidates dropped out after poor performances in the preprimaries.
- The preprimaries helped establish which candidates had viable support.
- Iowa and New Hampshire have traditionally hosted important preprimaries.
- Campaign strategists focus heavily on the preprimaries to build momentum.
- The preprimaries narrowed the field from twelve candidates to five.