something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows
造句
用作名詞(n.)
He got through the preliminaries but lost out in the finals. 他通過了預賽，但在決賽中輸掉了。
Kui Yuanyuan could miss the Olympic gymnastics team finals after hurting her knee during the preliminaries on Sunday. 奎媛媛在星期天預賽中由于膝部受傷，可能無法參加奧運會體操團體決賽。