preliminary

n.[C]

1. 初步；开端；预备[P1]
   He spent a long time on polite preliminaries.

   开始时他的许多时间花在客套上。

2. 预考，初试
3. 【体】预赛；淘汰赛
   These boxers did quite well to get through the preliminaries.

   这些拳击运动员以相当出色的成绩通过了预赛。