precisepre‧cise /prɪˈsaɪs/ ●●○ W3 AWL adjective 
precise sales figures It was difficult to get precise information. ‘She’s a lot older than you, isn’t she?’ ‘Fifteen years, to be precise.’2[only before noun] used to emphasize that you are referring to an exact thing SYN exact: At that precise moment, her husband walked in. The precise cause of the disease is unknown. the precise location of the ship the precise nature of their agreement3someone who is precise is very careful about small details or about the way they behave: a precise careful woman with precise movements of his hands
WORD ORIGINprecise
Origin:
1500-1600 French précis, from Latin praecisus, from praecidere ‘to cut off’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- At that precise moment, the telephone rang.
- Divers have been unable to find the precise location of the sunken ship.
- Each plane has to follow a precise route.
- It's difficult to be precise about the number of deaths caused by smoking.
- There is no precise method of measuring intelligence.
- We need to know your precise location.
- Although I had precise engineering plans I nevertheless measured and remeasured the space.
- But then patterns begin to freeze, making relationships more explicit and meanings more precise.
- In 10 casts using this strict, precise, scientific process last week in Malibu, I caught 10 fish.
- In the 1920s and 1930s such distinctions in land and station use were given even more precise legislative sanctions.
- It is not possible to be much more precise than this without becoming hopelessly entangled in a series of impossible dilemmas.
- The precise cause of this serious disease is still unknown.
- The fine steel blade is non-stick coated giving a precise anvil action.
- The serious aerial photographer will be looking for adjustment through vertical and horizontal axes so that the field of view is precise.
THESAURUS
an exact number, amount, or time is completely correct and is no more and no less than it should be: · The exact weight of the baby at birth was 3.2 kg.· The exact time is 8:16 a.m.
precise information is based on clear and exact figures or measurements, especially when it is important that no mistakes are made: · We need to know your precise location.· It’s difficult to be precise about the number of deaths caused by smoking.
completely correct because all the details are true: · The witness tried to give an accurate description of what she had seen.· accurate financial forecasts
Longman Language Activatoran exact number/amount/time an exact number, amount, or time is completely correct and is no more and no less than it should be: · "Can you tell me the exact time?" "It's 6.37."· The exact weight of the baby at birth was 3.2 kg.· I don't suppose you have the exact amount of money, do you?· You need to give me the exact measurements of the room.to be exact (=used after a number to give an exact answer, statement etc): · It took her about an hour - 58 minutes to be exact.
precise information is based on clear and exact figures or measurements, especially when it is important that no mistakes are made: · We need to know your precise location.· Each plane has to follow a precise route.to be precise (=to give precise information or figures): · It's difficult to be precise about the number of deaths caused by smoking.
use this to emphasize that a number, amount, or time is no more or less than a particular time or figure: · It's exactly 5 o'clock.· The bill came to exactly $1000.
informal at an exact time, no earlier and no later: · She always leaves the office at 5.30 p.m. on the dot.
: at nine o'clock/six/ten-thirty sharp at exactly nine o'clock etc - used especially to emphasize that something will not be delayed or that someone should not be late: · The performance starts at 8 o'clock sharp.
at exactly seven o'clock, nine o'clock etc: · On the stroke of midnight, the British flag was lowered for the last time over Delhi.· The judge entered the courtroom at the stroke of nine.
British informal use this to emphasize that it is exactly a particular time or at exactly the right time: · 'What time is it?' 'Bang on midnight.'· We finished dead on eight, and we were back home for nine.· Luckily, he arrived dead on time.
the exact place where something is or happens the exact place where something or someone is, especially in relation to other things or people: · Jessica moved to a position where she could see the stage better.· Bombs were dropped on the enemy position.· You can tell roughly what time it is by the sun's position.
a particular place on a line or on a surface, especially a place that is used for measuring distances, heights etc: · The river at this point is half a mile wide.· Soon they came to a point where the road divided.· Ward Hill, at over 700 feet, is the island's highest point.
the exact place where something is or happens: · People had left flowers at the spot where the police officer was killed.the exact/very/same etc spot: · The museum sits on the exact spot where gold was first discovered.· She agreed to meet him at the same spot the next evening.
written the exact place where something is or happens: · The exact location of the ship, which sank in 1857, is being kept secret.· A military spokesman would not reveal the exact location of the search area.· Molecular biologists have found the precise location of the gene.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY ‘She’s a lot older than you, isn’t she?’ ‘Fifteen years, to be precise.’COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES The map shows the precise location of the crash. The exact nature of the problem is not well understood.
‘She’s a lot older than you, isn’t she?’ ‘Fifteen years, to be precise.’· I can’t remember the exact date we moved into this house.
· The head teacher gave us a precise definition of the school’s aims.
(=very exact detail)· We've been through all the arrangements for the wedding in minute detail.
· Precise details of the evidence presented at that meeting have not yet been revealed.
The map shows the precise location of the crash.· The term ‘stress’ has a precise meaning to an engineer.
· It's about 10 metres by 8 metres - I don't know the exact measurements.· This special equipment allows us to make very precise measurements.
· Her stomach chose that precise moment to make a loud noise.
The exact nature of the problem is not well understood.· My own experience says that the exact opposite is true.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· The timing, the footfalls, are as precise as a late Samuel Beckett play.· Be as precise and as far-seeing as possible.· I want as precise a time of death as I can get.
· Open-sprung and continuous-sprung mattresses are the cheaper type and have springs that link together, offering less precise support.· Coffee grounds and cab drivers tend to be less precise than computers.· The former is an area over which systematic knowledge is much less precise.· Civilian users can not decipher as much information from the satellites' signals and thus get fixes that are less precise.· Real world monopoly is a much less precise concept than that of theory.· For a given corpus size, if one uses coarser classification then more reliable but less precise predictions are obtained.· Primitive streak stage embryos can also be manipulated using a dissecting microscope but the lower resolution makes such manipulations less precise.
· For the Roman period, settlement patterns are perhaps a little more precise.· The use of food composition tables is somewhat more precise but still only a crude quantitative expression of nutrients consumed.· He said more precise figures would not be available until decisions had been taken on the form of restoration.· Still calling to Williams for a more precise location, Adams hurtled through Pine Ridge village at high speed.· It was impossible to be more precise than that.· Studies range from a qualitative type of food habit inquiry to a much more precise quantitative one.· I also found the work to be a lot more precise and everyone put that little bit of extra effort into their work.· The range of a specialized creature may be extensive, but it is usually controlled by one or more precise factors.
· Indeed definitions of status are so precise they are even numbered.· The evidence was overwhelming, but none so precise and clear as that given by a Mr Bryant and his teenage daughter.· Then I made the description so precise I would always find some reason to reject each and every candidate.· But the division of the cytoplasm does not need to be quite so precise.· No description of such entities is so precise as to exclude apriori all possibility of an ambiguous reference.· His preparations had been so precise, there was little fear the base itself would be seriously damaged.· Present day popular usage is not so precise.
· I did not carry out their instructions very well so they had to be very precise in explaining things to me.· It is difficult to be very precise about what counts as a semantic field.· Like many terms of the sort, it does not have a very precise definition.· There is a very precise equation, the Schrodinger equation, which provides a completely deterministic time-evolution for this state.· At worst a vague objective should be couched in very precise terms.· He was courtly or proper, and very precise in his words and thinking.· Although modern electronic controls aren't always very easy to set, they are very precise and economical.· Actually, quantum descriptions are very precise, as we shall see, although radically different from the familiar classical ones.
NOUN· The precise cause of the collapse of the talks was unclear.· The precise cause of the break may in fact never be known.· Clinically the consequences are reflected as inappetence, weight loss and diarrhoea, the precise cause of the diarrhoea being unknown.· The precise cause of this serious disease is still unknown.· The precise cause was open to debate.
· No precise dates have been given.· The precise date will be published later.· In his Jungle of the Cities he used contrived precise dates and times for each episode.· The conditions of its composition and even a precise date for the play are uncertain.· The precise date and location will be decided during the next few months.· As to the precise dates, that is not a matter which I can immediately remember.· It is not our practice to make public the precise dates of submarine construction or related programmes.· An invisible curtain descended on this precise date.
· Like many terms of the sort, it does not have a very precise definition.· These arguments present questions of the meaning of the Twenty-first Amendment, the bounds of which have escaped precise definition.· There was a precise definition of task and job.· The depth of the North-South divide, its precise definition, and directions of change are key issues for this volume.· As will be explained below, it is of the nature of a paradigm to belie precise definition.· Can you give them a precise definition?· Structure plans, however, lack this precise definition.· Regulation ought to involve precise definition and separation of wastes into hazardous and non-hazardous, or different levels of hazard.
· This takes up much of the last week or more and is written out in precise detail.· Defined by anthropologists on the basis of precise details, these zones are generally small.· You take it in for what it seems and forget, as likely as not, the precise detail.· Round pointed are suitable for precise detail with control from fine to wide lines, laying down colour evenly.· The draughts-person is recording the precise details and position of the bones before they are excavated.· This was followed last week by a second letter giving more precise details of the make-up of the allocation.· But I want to know the precise details.· The precise details and mechanics of long-firm fraud vary from case to case, and many are exceedingly complex.
· He said more precise figures would not be available until decisions had been taken on the form of restoration.· Nothing turns on the precise figures.· There is room for argument about precise figures, none about the general thrust of Sir Hector's briefing.· Sir John told Mrs Kennedy he could not give precise figures of what job opportunities would arise from the transfer.· First, we have no precise figures for how much polonium escaped or of where it actually reached.· The above levels of Idemnite are those quoted in the Auvergne; precise figures can vary between Regions.
· Motion was conserved in the precise form in which it occurred at the instant of its preservation.· The precise form in which the words in these languages are represented is a matter of quite secondary importance.· My anxiety had no precise form or cause.· At this stage the precise form of the household's relation to its property is of critical importance.· One importance of the continuum is that it is a more precise form of categorisation than the simple dichotomy.· I have already, before delivering this judgment, heard argument about the precise form of the order.· The precise form of the appliance is not stated.
· How can they achieve maximum or target levels of profits or sales without precise information concerning their revenues and costs?· On some questions, it is difficult to get precise information.
· For Christians its precise location was a question of supreme importance; but they had no criteria for answering it.· Still calling to Williams for a more precise location, Adams hurtled through Pine Ridge village at high speed.· Aquatic beetles of the family Hydrophilidae often bear a number of different species of Laboulbeniales, often in precise locations.· San Ysidro, precise location unknown. 15.· During my time as a gamekeeper it was essential that I knew the precise location of all these extended burrows.· Most recently, global positioning system units have given hikers their precise location by satellite.· A still-frame button - vital for the precise location of edit-points when you are recording.
· Use complex words only when you need a precise meaning and a simple word will not serve the purpose.· Most of us maintain vague notions of justice, but its precise meaning escapes us until we are deprived of it.· That is, they have a fairly definite, precise meaning.· The precise meaning attached to these terms has varied depending upon the setting in which they were used.· T R S Allan suggests that political concepts should inform judicial decisions about the precise meaning of supremacy.· Probability has a precise meaning here.· Substitution of judgment would also be avoided because the tribunal would determine which precise meaning should be adopted.· On some objects scenes were reproduced whose precise meaning is difficult to recapture.
· Finally, do not let the following calculations and precise measurements deter you.· I would stay away from precise measurement of time.· Developing better and more precise measurement of the properties of phenomena is the key to the progress of scientific knowledge.· But this process is two way: it is also better theories which allow us to develop more precise measurement.
· The only real mystery is the precise mechanism by which the inner band of Minoan colonies was established.· The precise mechanism behind this apparent adrenaline boost remains unexplained.· The whole process is, once again, hormone.controlled, although the precise mechanism is uncertain.· Zoologists have yet to establish the precise mechanisms behind the camel's fuel economy.· What are the precise mechanisms involved in this process?
· He had arrived at the precise moment when another twist in the plot of a murder weekend was unravelling itself.· The Occident at that precise moment is nothing but a mirror.· At that precise moment, Delaney came to the same conclusion as Nell.· At that precise moment, who should come up the stairs to see her but Brother Mariadas.· And at that precise moment, a fish grabbed.· The precise moment when it was first questioned is hard to pin down for sure.· But at that precise moment Nature intervened.· He was preparing lunch at the precise moment.
· It will be appreciated that the precise nature of the degree or defect in acuity or field of vision is highly individual.· The man was obviously enjoying himself, but the precise nature of that pleasure eluded Quinn.· The precise nature and tone of this attitude may vary.· What is its precise nature and why is it before this court?· Doubts have been raised concerning the precise nature of Salmon's religious identity and experiences, but the salient details are unproblematic.· Victorian scholars were divided in their views of the precise nature and order of the stages of man's evolutionary progress.· The research is aimed at learning about the precise nature of these mental operations.· Crucial to the sucralose picture is the precise nature of the joint venture agreement with Johnson&Johnson;
· There was some dispute over the precise number of lives claimed by the riots.· The precise number of employees being recalled was unavailable.· The precise number of personnel was not known but was estimated as high as 1,500.· The precise number changes yearly as some systems undergo significant changes.· I remember arguments at the beginning of 1991 about the precise number.· Interestingly, much of the math we did was not in precise numbers, but estimates.
· The precise relationship between these two meanings of unreasonable is not absolutely clear.· It is also true to say that there was relatively less consensus about the precise relationship between causes and outcomes.· As Born first showed there are precise relationships between the crystal elastic constants and the interatomic forces in a regular crystal lattice.
· By some terrific fluke Richard came face to face with his future at the precise time he most needed to see it.· A clearly described project and precise time schedule will be easily translated into budgetary terms.· Patients were asked to empty their bladder before going to bed, noting the precise time and discarding the urine.· What was the precise time on that clock face when you looked at it just now?· Rabbits, of course, have no idea of precise time or of punctuality.· Go for the swim and the run and come back with precise time.· No one had mentioned how fast the trains were going: nor the precise time of impact, not down to the minute.
· Then the masses of the W and Z particles should relate in a precise way according to the electro-weak theory.· It is a precise way of expressing what is often called the average.· Thus we have a precise way of establishing the validity of non-local effects in quantum phenomena.· He likes things done in a precise way.· Most listed companies do not at present use their non-executives in the precise ways Cadbury recommends.· For the use of the word in any more precise way we must wait until the Mishna.· The precise way in which many quangos are controlled is difficult to determine.· We were looking for a precise way to express what we mean when we refer to something as complicated.
WORD FAMILYadjectiveprecise ≠ impreciseprecisionnounprecision ≠ imprecisionadverbprecisely ≠ imprecisely
1precise information, details etc are exact, clear, and correct SYN exact: precise sales figures It was difficult to get precise information. ‘She’s a lot older than you, isn’t she?’ ‘Fifteen years, to be precise.’2[only before noun] used to emphasize that you are referring to an exact thing SYN exact: At that precise moment, her husband walked in. The precise cause of the disease is unknown. the precise location of the ship the precise nature of their agreement3someone who is precise is very careful about small details or about the way they behave: a precise careful woman with precise movements of his hands