heck meaning, definition, what is heck: used to show that you are annoyed or to ...: Learn more.
preliminary noun [C, usually plural]. âº an âevent or âaction that prepares for or âintroduces something: After the greetings and other preliminaries, the âmeeting got down to serious âbusiness. (Definition of preliminary from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary Â© Cambridge University Press).
Word Origin and History for preliminary Expand. adj. 1660s, from French prÃ©liminaire and directly from Medieval Latin praeliminaris, from Latin prae- before (see pre-) + limen (genitive liminis) threshold (see limit (n.)). A word that arose in reference to negotiations to end the Thirty Years' War. Earliest attested form in English is preliminaries (n.), 1650s.