primers

Noun (1)

primer (plural primers)

1. (historical) A prayer or devotional book intended for laity, initially an abridgment of the breviary and manual including the hours of the Virgin Mary, 15 gradual and 7 penitential psalms, the litany, the placebo and dirige forming the office of the dead, and the commendations.

   Synonyms:

   book of hours, prayer book

2. (historical) Any of various similar works issued in England for private prayer in accordance with the Book of Common Prayer.
3. A children's book intended to teach literacy: how to read, write, and spell.
   • Four-year-old Elizabeth Finkle-McGraw would receive the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer from her grandfather. Fiona Hackworth would be getting a copy of the Illustrated Primer too, for this had been John Percival Hackworth's crime: He had programmed the matter compiler to place the cockleburs on...1995, Neal Stephenson, The Diamond Age […] , New York: Bantam Spectra, →ISBN
4. An introductory text on any subject, particularly basic concepts.
   • [...] The two assets of the book are clear explanation, and a multitude of extremely helpful diagrams, some in two colours, and cutaway photographs; these clearly unravel a difficult subject for the layman, as well as the student engineman for whom the primer is chiefly designed.1959 March, “New Reading on Railways: The Railwayman's Diesel Manual. By William F. Bolton. G. H. Lake. 7s. 6d.”, in Trains Illustrated, page 172
5. (New Zealand, obsolete) An elementary school class; an elementary school student.

Noun (2)

primer (countable and uncountable, plural primers)

1. Any substance or device, such as priming wire or blasting cap, used to ignite gunpowder or other explosive.
   • The percussion primer, known as the “ 110-grain percussion primer,” contains an igniting charge of 95 grains of black powder in addition to the essential elements of a percussion primer.1912, United States Army Ordnance Dept, Handbook of the 2.95-inch mountain gun mate/riel and pack outfit, →ISBN, page 17

See all 19 meanings of primer