1. preliminary examinations taken before final exams, especially at a university
Usage: British; informal
2. preliminary rounds or stages of a competition
Usage: informal

Examples

• She’s studying hard for her prelims next month.
• The prelims will determine who advances to the final round.
• He passed all his prelims with high marks.
• The swimming prelims start at 9 AM tomorrow.
• After the prelims, only eight contestants remained.
• The university requires students to complete prelims before their thesis defense.