preachpreach /priːtʃ/ ●○○ verb 
Christ began preaching to large crowds.preach on/about The vicar preached a sermon about the prodigal son. He traveled the southern states, preaching the gospel.2[transitive] to talk about how good or important something is and try to persuade other people about this: Alexander has been preaching patience.preach the virtues/merits/benefits of something a politician preaching the virtues of a free market3[intransitive] to give someone advice, especially about their behaviour, in a way that they think is boring or annoyingpreach about grown-ups preaching about the evils of drugs4preach to the converted/choir to talk about what you think is right or important to people who already have the same opinions as you → practise what you preach at practise(5)
WORD ORIGINpreach
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French prechier, from Late Latin praedicare, from Latin dicare ‘to say publicly’VERB TABLE
preach
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | preach |
| he, she, it | preaches | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | preached |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have preached |
| he, she, it | has preached | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had preached |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will preach |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have preached |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am preaching |
| he, she, it | is preaching | |
| you, we, they | are preaching | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was preaching |
| you, we, they | were preaching | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been preaching |
| he, she, it | has been preaching | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been preaching |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be preaching |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been preaching |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Mom, stop preaching - I'm old enough to take care of myself.
- You're always preaching honesty, and then you lie to me.
- After completing his studies, in which he excelled in philosophy and theology, he was ordained and was assigned to preaching.
- Campaigns that have merely preached abstinence have always failed.
- Gordon was preaching the morality of scholarship.
- He also preached at Blackfriars on Sundays and a mid-week lecture in Milk Street.
- His jailers realized that his ransom would exceed those of the other prisoners, so Raymond was continuously tortured for preaching.
- How couldst thou preach of heaven and hell in such a careless, sleepy manner?
- In those days there was little opportunity to hear Gospel preaching in Shropshire.
- Renaissance humanism preached respect for the greatness of the human being as an individual: it stressed personal intelligence and ability.
WORD SETS
acolyte, nounafterlife, nounagnostic, nounangel, nounanimism, nounanoint, verbapostasy, nounapostate, nounarchangel, nounbelieve, verbbeliever, nounbell-ringer, nounbless, verbblessed, adjectiveblessing, nouncelebrant, nounChristian Science, nouncircumcise, verbcircumcision, nouncommunion, nounconfession, nounconvent, nounconversion, nounconvert, nouncoreligionist, nouncowl, nouncredo, nouncreed, nouncult, noundaemon, nounDecalogue, noundefrock, verbdeism, noundenomination, noundenominational, adjectivedevotee, noundevotion, noundevotional, adjectivedevout, adjectivedivine, adjectivedivinity, noundruid, nounfaith, nounfast day, nounfeast, nounfervour, nounfiesta, nounfollow, verbfrankincense, noungentile, noungod, noungoddess, noungrace, nounhabit, nounhair shirt, nounhallelujah, interjectionhallowed, adjectivehalo, nounheathen, adjectiveheathen, nounheaven, nounheavenly, adjectivehell, nounheresy, nounheretic, nounhermit, nounhermitage, nounheterodox, adjectivehigh priest, nounidol, nounidolatry, nounincarnation, nounincense, nouninfidel, nounintercession, nouninvocation, nouninvoke, verbirreligious, adjective-ism, suffixlayman, nounlaywoman, nounlibation, nounliturgical, adjectiveliturgy, nounmartyr, nounmartyr, verbmeditate, verbmeditation, nounmission, nounmonastery, nounmonastic, adjectivemonk, nounmonotheism, nounMoonie, nounMormon, nounMosaic, adjectivemystery play, nounmystic, nounmystical, adjectivemysticism, nounneophyte, nounnovice, nounnovitiate, nounnuminous, adjectivenun, nounnunnery, nounoblation, nounobservance, nounoffering, nounOlympian, adjectiveordain, verborder, nounorthodox, adjectiveotherworldly, adjectivepagan, adjectivepagan, nounpantheism, nounpantheon, nounParsee, nounpilgrim, nounpilgrimage, nounpious, adjectivepluralism, nounpolytheism, nounpractise, verbpray, verbprayer, nounprayer wheel, nounpreach, verbpreacher, nounpriest, nounpriestess, nounpriesthood, nounpriestly, adjectiveprophet, nounprophetess, nounpurify, verbRasta, nounRastafarian, nounRastaman, nounRE, nounrecant, verbreincarnation, nounreligious, adjectivereligiously, adverbreliquary, nounrepent, verbretreat, nounrevelation, nounrevivalism, nounrite, nounritual, nounsacred, adjectivesacrifice, nounsacrifice, verbsacrificial, adjectivesanctify, verbsanctity, nounsanctuary, nounsanctum, nounsatanism, nounscripture, nounsect, nounsectarian, adjectiveservice, nounshaman, nounShinto, nounshrine, nounsin, nounsin, verbsinful, adjectivesinner, nounsoul, nounspirit, nounspiritual, adjectivespiritualism, nounspirituality, nounSr, sun god, nounsuppliant, nounsupplicant, nounsupplication, nounSupreme Being, nounTao, nounTaoism, nountemple, nountenet, nounthanksgiving, nountheism, nountheo-, prefixtheocracy, nountheologian, nountheological college, nountheology, nountonsure, nountranscendental, adjectivetranscendental meditation, nountransmigration, noununbelief, noununbeliever, nounungodly, adjectiveunholy, adjectiveunorthodox, adjectivevisionary, nounvoodoo, nounvotary, nounworship, verbworship, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY The vicar preached a sermon about the prodigal son. He traveled the southern states, preaching the gospel. a politician preaching the virtues of a free marketCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES spreading the gospel of science The vicar gave a sermon on charity.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN
The vicar preached a sermon about the prodigal son. He traveled the southern states, preaching the gospel. a politician preaching the virtues of a free market (=tell people about it) Missionaries were sent to preach the Gospel. gospel stories
Missionaries were sent to preach the Gospel. gospel stories spreading the gospel of science The vicar gave a sermon on charity.· Not only was he preaching to the choir, he was talking to tax-cutting evangelists.· He is preaching to the choir of religious-right Protestants and conservative Catholics whose votes should already be locked up.
· Rome has more churches and less preaching in them than any city in the world.
· In the first place, it was quite useless to preach ready made doctrine to them.· He later preached good doctrine and set the colonists to building a church.· They preached the pure doctrine and pure life that Puritans had cherished ever since they formed under Elizabeth and chafed under James.· It preaches the doctrine that individuals should be allowed to do anything they wish unfettered by social conventions.
· This means a goal of thirty viable gospel preaching churches in our town and twelve in Cranham alone.· However, it was not long before the Gospel preached by Richard Baxter began to change her life.
· The first sermon she preached reiterated the message.
· Wolsey even has his ministers preach peace sermons in London.· Pentecostals love this story and their ministers frequently preach on it, for two reasons.· These were the things our minister preached to us every Sunday of my early life.
· The sermon he preached was scholarly, and explained why he had been called to this well-found charge and to the chaplaincy.· The emotional setting in which sermons could be preached was made possible by a sympathetic audience: indeed, reciprocity was essential.· Patriot Patrick Henry liked to drop by to hear the recruiting sermons Davies preached, in order to learn oratory.· The first sermon she preached reiterated the message.
· He may preach the virtues of an empty bank account, but Damon is fairly obsessed with filling his own.
VERB· In 1869 he sold his business and began preaching throughout Britain.· After a couple of years, Philip began to preach on the streets of post-Renaissance Rome.· He then began preaching Wycliffite views to enthusiastic congregations in and near the town.· The rector began spontaneously to preach one of the most electrifying sermons of his career.· Frequently the visitors were so numerous they could not fit into the house, so Seymour began preaching from the porch.
· Two years later he received an order of excommunication and ignored that too in that he continued to preach.· Nevertheless Seymour continued to preach and testify at black missions in Houston where he eventually met a woman named Neely Terry.
· In those days there was little opportunity to hear Gospel preaching in Shropshire.· She heard Cotton preach two covenants.· Two Sundays back, I heard Sithole preach.· They would have preferred to hear him preach his Lenten sermons on the necessity of self-discipline and the importance of fasting.· Richard Baxter was preaching in Alcester one Sunday in September 1642 when the sound of distant canon fire was heard.· The next candidate, Richard Baxter, was unanimously chosen the first time they heard him preach.· How can they hear without some one preaching to them?
· However, we don't always practice what we preach.· Ulene tries to practice what he preaches, jogging and eating a low-fat diet.· It's too easy to inadvertently fail to practice what we preach.
· It is a good thing he practises what he preaches.· I just wanted to see if he practised what he preached.· The paper would practise what it preached.· In most areas of life, he tries to practise what he preaches.· It is also important to practise what you preach.· The tight control on public sector pay is crucial and underlines the fact that the Government intends to practise what it preaches.· And Scott the rapier-slim rapper backs up this message by practising what he preaches.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1[intransitive, transitive] to talk about a religious subject in a public place, especially in a church during a servicepreach to- As Chesterton was preaching to the converted there was no chance of this, so he avoided prosecution.
- But they will still usually be only the party faithful, so he will find himself preaching to the converted.
- He is preaching to the choir of religious-right Protestants and conservative Catholics whose votes should already be locked up.
- Not only was he preaching to the choir, he was talking to tax-cutting evangelists.
- To some extent this means preaching to the converted.
- You're preaching to the converted in us, but you've got to get at everyone else.
- And Scott the rapier-slim rapper backs up this message by practising what he preaches.
- Both Johnson and Lady Macleod found the book wanting, her objection being that the author did not practise what he preached.
- I just wanted to see if he practised what he preached.
- In most areas of life, he tries to practise what he preaches.
- It is a good thing he practises what he preaches.
- It is also important to practise what you preach.
- The paper would practise what it preached.
- The tight control on public sector pay is crucial and underlines the fact that the Government intends to practise what it preaches.
Christ began preaching to large crowds.preach on/about The vicar preached a sermon about the prodigal son. He traveled the southern states, preaching the gospel.2[transitive] to talk about how good or important something is and try to persuade other people about this: Alexander has been preaching patience.preach the virtues/merits/benefits of something a politician preaching the virtues of a free market3[intransitive] to give someone advice, especially about their behaviour, in a way that they think is boring or annoyingpreach about grown-ups preaching about the evils of drugs4preach to the converted/choir to talk about what you think is right or important to people who already have the same opinions as you → practise what you preach at practise(5)