precocious(pri KOH shis) adj. 1. matured to a level beyond that which is nor-
mal for one of that age (a precocious child); 2. of or demonstrating premature
development
- Geoffrey was so precociousthat he was walking at 8 months of age.
- Mathew was precociousenough to be taking college-level math courses
while still in junior high school. - Mozart’s precociousmusical skill is well documented.
[-ly adv.]
predators*(PRED uh TAWRZ) n. 1. ones who live by exploiting and robbing
others; 2. ones who capture and feed on other animals; 3. birds or creatures of prey - Predatorsoften take advantage of older or disadvantaged people.
- Lions, like most predators,are at the top of their food chain.
- Predatorsof the bird family are known as raptors.
predecessor (PRE di CES oer) n. 1. a person who held the same office before the
one currently occupying it; 2. an ancestor; 3. something that was used before it was
replaced by a newer thing - Lyndon Johnson’s predecessoras president was John F. Kennedy.
- Cro-Magnon man is believed to have been a predecessorof Homo sapiens.
- The ice box, which contained a block of ice, was the predecessorof the
refrigerator.
predict (pri DIKT) vt. foretell; to know and state what a future event will be - If fortune tellers can predictthe future, why aren’t they all rich?
- It is easy to predictthat the next word you look at after predictwill be
prehensile.
[-able* adj., -ably adv.]
prehensile(pree HEN sil) adj. adapted for grabbing, such as the tails of many
monkeys; grasping - If you’ve ever gone to the monkey house, then you’ve seen monkeys
swinging by their prehensiletails. - Unlike most humans, monkeys and lemurs have prehensilefeet and can use
them to pick things up.
premise*(PREM is) n. a prior statement or condition that serves as the basis for
an argument or procedure; the underlying assumption - The premiseof your asking whether I enjoyed the movie Gladiatoris in
error because I never saw the film. - When Dawn asked Cathy how she’d enjoyed college chemistry, her premise
was that Cathy had taken the course, and she was correct.
[Syn. presumption]
P – Q: SAT Words 189