precursor

In a sentence

Six example sentences with precursor, each labelled with its topic.

• Ammonia serves as the precursor for nitric acid in the industrial process that feeds most fertilizer plants.

  Science

• The liver converts a dietary precursor into the active vitamin, which is why deficiency can appear despite adequate meals.

  Medicine

• Browning onions slowly releases a precursor that the long simmer later turns into the deep sweetness of the sauce.

  Cooking

• Nitrate in beet juice acts as a precursor to nitric oxide, which is why some cyclists drink it before a time trial.

  Fitness

• Tryptophan is the precursor from which the brain makes serotonin, so the amino acid draws attention in studies of mood.

  Psychology

• Nitrogen oxides from traffic are a precursor of ozone, forming the smog only after sunlight has worked on them for hours.

  Environment

Found in these word lists

Each source is a published word list that contains precursor. No exam board publishes an official GRE, GMAT or SAT list; GMAT words come from GRE lists and the Academic Word List.

More GMAT words

• activism
• ubiquitous
• attire
• jeopardize
• dissolution
• disguise
• garner
• accord
• deter
• eclipse
• arresting
• colossal