something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows; "training is a necessary preliminary to employment"; "drinks were the overture to dinner"
a minor match preceding the main event
designed to orient or acquaint with a situation before proceeding; "a preliminary investigation"
the act or process of drawing up plans or layouts for some project or enterprise
an act of formulating a program for a definite course of action; "the planning was more fun than the trip itself"
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"
something that is found; "the findings in the gastrointestinal tract indicate that he died several hours after dinner"; "an area rich in archaeological findings"
the act of constructing something (as a piece of machinery)
the act of making something (a product) from raw materials; "the synthesis and fabrication of single crystals"; "an improvement in the manufacture of explosives"; "manufacturing is vital to Great Britain"
the successful action of solving a problem; "the solution took three hours"
a method for solving a problem; "the easy solution is to look it up in the handbook"
a statement that solves a problem or explains how to solve the problem; "they were trying to find a peaceful solution"; "the answers were in the back of the book"; "he computed the result to four decimal places"
the set of values that give a true statement when substituted into an equation
a homogeneous mixture of two or more substances; frequently (but not necessarily) a liquid solution; "he used a solution of peroxide and water"