in preference to (someone or something)

in preference to (someone or something)

Over or instead of someone or something else. We chose to publish Mary's essay in preference to yours because hers dealt more explicitly with the topic we assigned. We've decided to go with a local credit union in preference to a big multinational bank.See also: preference

in preference to somebody/something

rather than somebody/something: She was chosen in preference to her sister.See also: preference, somebody, something