[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/preform/)

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# preform

noun (a preform, preforms); verb (preform, preforms, preformed, preforming — rare)

«preform» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. (technical) A preform is an object that has been partly shaped before its final shape, such as the small plastic tube that is blown up into a drinks bottle. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#m1)
2. (verb, rare) To preform is to shape something beforehand. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#m2)

### In the lessons

In design and technology lessons, plastic bottles start as preforms that are heated and blown into moulds. In ordinary spelling it is often a mistake for «perform». Phrases: a bottle preform.

### Examples

- Plastic bottles start as small preforms. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#x1)
- The machine heats the preform and blows it into a bottle. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#x2)
- We looked at a preform in technology class. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#x3)
- The preform looks like a thick test tube. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#x4)
- Glass fibre is pulled from a preform. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#x5)
- A preform is heated until it is soft. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/#x6)

### Note

A trap: «preform» (shape beforehand) is NOT «perform» (act, sing, do). Most of the time you want «perform». Pre- means «before».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «preform» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/preform/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«preform» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/preform.html) on Mova free.