1. prelude - Noun
2. prelude - Verb
An introductory performance, preceding and preparing for the principal matter; a preliminary part, movement, strain, etc.; especially (Mus.), a strain introducing the theme or chief subject; a movement introductory to a fugue, yet independent; -- with recent composers often synonymous with overture.
To play an introduction or prelude; to give a prefatory performance; to serve as prelude.
To introduce with a previous performance; to play or perform a prelude to; as, to prelude a concert with a lively air.
To serve as prelude to; to precede as introductory.
Source: Webster's dictionarytraining is a necessary preliminary to employment Source: Internet
drinks were the overture to dinner Source: Internet
According to art historian Andreas Beyer, it "offered a prelude of a genre that would only truly gain acceptance in Dutch painting of the seventeenth century". Source: Internet
Alex Burkill, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said the wet and windy weather is ‘the prelude, if you will, to what is Storm Ciara’. Source: Internet
Act 1 1. A short orchestral prelude with a busy, fugal opening theme, followed by a second theme of more overtly Japanese character, leads straight into the opening scene. Source: Internet
A "limited nuclear war" could include targeting military facilities—either as an attempt to pre-emptively cripple the enemy's ability to attack as a defensive measure, or as a prelude to an invasion by conventional forces, as an offensive measure. Source: Internet