[W/K] :: preparation

  Preparation \Prep`a*ra"tion\, n. [F. pr['e]paration, L.
     praeparatio. See Prepare.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. The act of preparing or fitting beforehand for a
        particular purpose, use, service, or condition; previous
        arrangement or adaptation; a making ready; as, the
        preparation of land for a crop of wheat; the preparation
        of troops for a campaign.
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     2. The state of being prepared or made ready; preparedness;
        readiness; fitness; as, a nation in good preparation for
        war.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. That which makes ready, prepares the way, or introduces; a
        preparatory act or measure.
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              I will show what preparations there were in nature
              for this dissolution.                 --T. Burnet.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. That which is prepared, made, or compounded by a certain
        process or for a particular purpose; a combination.
        Specifically:
        (a) Any medicinal substance fitted for use.
        (b) Anything treated for preservation or examination as a
            specimen.
        (c) Something prepared for use in cookery.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  I wish the chemists had been more sparing who
                  magnify their preparations.       --Sir T.
                                                    Browne.
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                  In the preparations of cookery, the most
                  volatile parts of vegetables are destroyed.
                                                    --Arbuthnot.
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     5. An army or fleet. [Obs.] --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. (Mus.) The holding over of a note from one chord into the
        next chord, where it forms a temporary discord, until
        resolved in the chord that follows; the anticipation of a
        discordant note in the preceding concord, so that the ear
        is prepared for the shock. See Suspension.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     7. Accomplishment; qualification. [Obs.] --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]

  preparation
       n 1: the activity of putting or setting in order in advance of
            some act or purpose; "preparations for the ceremony had
            begun" [syn: readying]
       2: a substance prepared according to a formula [syn: formulation]
       3: the cognitive process of thinking about what you will do in
          the event of something happening; "his planning for
          retirement was hindered by several uncertainties" [syn: planning,
           provision]
       4: the state of having been made ready or prepared for use or
          action (especially military action); "putting them in
          readiness"; "their preparation was more than adequate"
          [syn: readiness, preparedness]
       5: (music) a note that produces a dissonant chord is first
          heard in a consonant chord; "the resolution of one
          dissonance is often the preparation for another disonance"
          [ant: resolution]
       6: activity leading to skilled behavior [syn: training, grooming]
       7: preparatory school work done outside school (especially at
          home) [syn: homework, prep]
       8: the act of preparing something (as food) by the application
          of heat; "cooking can be a great art"; "people are needed
          who have experience in cookery"; "he left the preparation
          of meals to his wife" [syn: cooking, cookery]

  207 Moby Thesaurus words for "preparation":
     accouterment, adaptation, anticipation, apprenticeship,
     architecture, armament, arrangement, arrangements, assembly, balm,
     balsam, basic training, breaking, breeding, briefing, building,
     casting, catering, chandlery, composing, composition, compound,
     concoction, conditioning, construction, contemplation, conversion,
     crafting, craftsmanship, cramming, creation, cultivation,
     development, devising, discipline, discretion, drill, drilling,
     drops, drug, education, elaboration, electuary, elixir, endowment,
     envisagement, envisionment, equipment, erection, ethical drug,
     exercise, extraction, fabrication, farseeingness, farsightedness,
     fashioning, fetching-up, finding, fitness, fitting out, forecast,
     foreglance, foregleam, foreglimpse, forehandedness, foreseeing,
     foresight, foresightedness, formation, forming, formulation,
     fostering, foundation, framing, furnishing, furnishment,
     generic name, grooming, groundwork, growing, handicraft, handiwork,
     harmonization, harvesting, herbs, housebreaking, improvement,
     in-service training, inhalant, instruction, instrumentation,
     intonation, investment, lincture, linctus, logistics,
     longsightedness, looking ahead, machining, making, manual training,
     manufacture, manufacturing, materia medica, material, measures,
     medicament, medication, medicinal, medicinal herbs, medicine,
     military training, milling, mining, mixture, modulation, molding,
     nonprescription drug, nurture, nurturing, officinal,
     on-the-job training, orchestration, organization, organizing,
     outfitting, patent medicine, pharmacon, phrasing, physic, planning,
     plans, powder, practice, prediction, prefabrication, prep,
     preparing, prepping, prepublication, prescription drug, preview,
     prevision, proceedings, processing, procurement, producing,
     product, proprietary, proprietary medicine, proprietary name,
     prospect, prospection, providence, providing, provision,
     provisioning, provisions, prudence, purveyance, putting together,
     raising, readiness, readying, rearing, refining, rehearsal,
     reinforcement, replenishment, resolution, resupply, retailing,
     sagacity, selling, setting, shaping, simples, sloyd, smelting,
     solution, spadework, study, studying, stuff, subsidization,
     subsidy, substance, subvention, supply, supplying, suspension,
     swotting, syrup, teaching, theraputant, tisane, tone painting,
     training, transcription, tuition, upbringing, vegetable remedies,
     victualing, vocational education, vocational training, work,
     workmanship