1. The act of preparing or fitting beforehand for a particular purpose,
use, service, or condition; previous arrangement or adaptation; a
making ready; as, the preparation of land for a crop of wheat; the
preparation of troops for a campaign.
2. The state of being prepared or made ready; preparedness; readiness;
fitness; as, a nation in good preparation for war.
3. That which makes ready, prepares the way, or introduces; a
preparatory act or measure.
I will show what preparations there were in nature for this
dissolution.
T. Burnet.
4. That which is prepared, made, or compounded by a certain process or
for a particular purpose; a combination. Specifically: (a) Any
medicinal substance fitted for use. (b) Anything treated for
preservation or examination as a specimen. (c) Something prepared for
use in cookery.
I wish the chemists had been more sparing who magnify their
preparations.
Sir T. Browne.
In the preparations of cookery, the most volatile parts of
vegetables are destroyed.
Arbuthnot.