as in requirement
something that must exist or happen before something else can exist or happen
An education is an important precondition for getting a good job. They insist on a guarantee as a precondition to the deal.
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Recent Examples of precondition
When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the United States and Western Europe devoted much diplomacy and foreign aid to helping the former USSR and the countries of Eastern Europe develop civil society institutions, believing this to be a precondition of those countries’ transition to democracy.
—
Christopher Justin Einolf, The Conversation, 26 Sep. 2025
Build Preconditions First Start with the preconditions.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
However, the late Tuesday decision handed down by Judge Amit Mehta, who has been overseeing the Google Search antitrust trial, prevents Alphabet from paying for contracts with preconditions such as making its Google Search the exclusive search option.
—Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2025
The 89-year-old child psychologist transformed a corner of the conservative movement into a roaring political force that shaped the national conversation and became the de facto base of the modern Republican Party that embraced performative piety as a precondition for viability.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 21 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for precondition
Christopher Justin Einolf, The Conversation, 26 Sep. 2025
Build Preconditions First Start with the preconditions.
—Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
However, the late Tuesday decision handed down by Judge Amit Mehta, who has been overseeing the Google Search antitrust trial, prevents Alphabet from paying for contracts with preconditions such as making its Google Search the exclusive search option.
—Morgan Chittum, CNBC, 3 Sep. 2025
The 89-year-old child psychologist transformed a corner of the conservative movement into a roaring political force that shaped the national conversation and became the de facto base of the modern Republican Party that embraced performative piety as a precondition for viability.
—Philip Elliott, Time, 21 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for precondition
Recent Examples of Synonyms for precondition
Noun
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The bill also ditches the burdensome cover-up requirement for claims against individuals.—
Nancy Dillon,
Rolling Stone,
11 Oct. 2025
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The state can fairly easily police the requirement that Max be installed on new phones by threatening phone companies that don’t comply or even jailing their executives.—
Justin Sherman,
The Atlantic,
11 Oct. 2025
Noun
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It was occasionally done out of late-in-the-round necessity — see some of the SP/RP mentioned above — but others were used in this role by design.—
Chad Jennings,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
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Tonatiuh also points to the necessity of the film's themes at this time in our history.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Heyward suggested that the conditions played a role in the injury, which is expected to end Killebrew’s season.—
Mike DeFabo,
New York Times,
16 Oct. 2025
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The system has the ability to show warehouse operators how much of the warehouse is occupied, whether products and pallets are in the right location, how storage conditions seem and more.—
Meghan Hall,
Sourcing Journal,
15 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Israel has been consistent throughout the war that returning the bodies of the dead was a prerequisite for ending the fighting.—
Jared Gans,
The Hill,
14 Oct. 2025
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And for the drivers themselves, carting cargo on America’s highways has been an engine of class mobility—a flexible vocation offering decent pay without the prerequisite of a college education or the daunting prospect of an office-based 9-to-5.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Precondition.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/precondition. Accessed 18 Oct. 2025.
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