PRECISELY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does precisely mean? 

• PRECISELY (adverb)
  The adverb PRECISELY has 3 senses:

1. indicating exactness or preciseness

2. in a precise manner

3. just as it should be

  Familiarity information: PRECISELY used as an adverb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PRECISELY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Indicating exactness or preciseness

Synonyms:

exactly; just; precisely; properly

Context example:

Properly speaking, all true work is religion.

Pertainym:

precise (sharply exact or accurate or delimited)

Sense 2

Meaning:

In a precise manner

Synonyms:

exactly; incisively; precisely

Context example:

she always expressed herself precisely

Antonym:

imprecisely (in an imprecise manner)

Pertainym:

exact ((of ideas, images, representations, expressions) characterized by perfect conformity to fact or truth; strictly correct)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Just as it should be

Synonyms:

exactly; on the button; on the dot; on the nose; precisely

Context example:

'Precisely, my lord,' he said

 Context examples 

This new moon won’t be friendly to anyone, for Uranus will be precisely square the Sun and tender new moon.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Researchers had proposed several theories for how viperin exerts its anti-viral effects, but precisely how it acted was a mystery.

(Scientists Discover How Antiviral Gene Works, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

At three o’clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had not yet returned.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Precisely in the way that the door slid back, he slid aside, and I stepped out on deck.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Unconscious of this prediction, Mr. Dick continued to occupy precisely the same ground in reference to the Doctor and to Mrs. Strong.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Precisely what I don’t want you to do.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But these, I suppose, are precisely what you are without.”

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

This is one of the first studies to describe precisely how they may work to provide health benefits.

(Study finds probiotic Bacillus eliminates Staphylococcus bacteria, National Institutes of Health)

Anyone who's taken a biology class knows that a gene's sequence precisely dictates the order of amino acids that must be linked together to make a protein.

(Genes Can be Read in Different Ways, NIH, US)

You have been drinking rum; you have had a stroke, precisely as I told you; and I have just, very much against my own will, dragged you headforemost out of the grave.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)