simple past tense and past participle of primary

first or earliest in a group or series. / main; principal; chief; placed ahead of others. / (geology) Earliest formed; fundamental.

A primary election; a preliminary election to select a political candidate of a political party. / The first year of grade school. / A base or fundamental component; something that is irreducible.

(US, politics, transitive, intransitive) To challenge (an incumbent sitting politician) for their political party's nomination to run for re-election, through running a challenger campaign in a primary election, especially one that is more ideologically extreme.

plural of primary

Third-person singular simple present indicative form of primary

The quality or state of being primary, or first in time, act, or intention.

(US, politics) Mounting a challenge to an incumbent office-holder in a party primary.

present participle of primary

(psychology) A consequence, such as food or water, that fulfills a primary, unlearned drive, such as hunger or thirst, and thereby reinforces a behavior without dependence on prior learning.