She was not the prime cause, but I myself. --Milton.
Note: In this sense the word is nearly superseded by
primitive, except in the phrase prime cost.
2. First in rank, degree, dignity, authority, or importance;
as, prime minister. ``Prime virtues.'' --Dryden.
3. First in excellence; of highest quality; as, prime wheat;
a prime quality of cloth.
4. Early; blooming; being in the first stage. [Poetic]
His starry helm, unbuckled, showed him prime In
manhood where youth ended. --Milton.
5. Lecherous; lustful; lewd. [Obs.] --Shak.
6. Marked or distinguished by a mark (') called a prime mark.
Night's bashful empress, though she often wane, As
oft repeats her darkness, primes again. --Quarles.
2. To serve as priming for the charge of a gun.
3. To work so that foaming occurs from too violent
ebullition, which causes water to become mixed with, and
be carried along with, the steam that is formed; -- said
of a steam boiler.
In the very prime of the world. --Hooker.
Hope waits upon the flowery prime. --Waller.
2. The spring of life; youth; hence, full health, strength,
or beauty; perfection. ``Cut off in their prime.''
--Eustace. ``The prime of youth.'' --Dryden.
3. That which is first in quantity; the most excellent
portion; the best part.
Give him always of the prime. --Swift.
4. [F. prime, LL. prima (sc. hora). See {Prime}, a.] The
morning; specifically (R. C. Ch.), the first canonical
hour, succeeding to lauds.
Early and late it rung, at evening and at prime.
--Spenser.
Note: Originally, prime denoted the first quarter of the
artificial day, reckoned from 6 a. m. to 6 p. m.
Afterwards, it denoted the end of the first quarter,
that is, 9 a. m. Specifically, it denoted the first
canonical hour, as now. Chaucer uses it in all these
senses, and also in the sense of def. 1, above.
They sleep till that it was pryme large.
--Chaucer.
5. (Fencing) The first of the chief guards.
6. (Chem.) Any number expressing the combining weight or
equivalent of any particular element; -- so called because
these numbers were respectively reduced to their lowest
relative terms on the fixed standard of hydrogen as 1.
[Obs. or Archaic]
7. (Arith.) A prime number. See under {Prime}, a.
8. An inch, as composed of twelve seconds in the duodecimal
system; -- denoted by [']. See 2d {Inch}, n., 1.
{Prime of the moon}, the new moon at its first appearance.
2. To lay the first color, coating, or preparation upon (a
surface), as in painting; as, to prime a canvas, a wall.
3. To prepare; to make ready; to instruct beforehand; to
post; to coach; as, to prime a witness; the boys are
primed for mischief. [Colloq.] --Thackeray.
4. To trim or prune, as trees. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
5. (Math.) To mark with a prime mark.
{To prime a pump}, to charge a pump with water, in order to
put it in working condition.