only 1 use
(click/touch triangles for details)
Definition
an example from a prior time — typically used to justify similar occurrences at a later time (especially a judicial decision)
- There's your law of precedents; there's your utility of traditions; there's the story of your obstinate survival of old beliefs never bottomed on the earth, and now not even hovering in the air!Chapters 67-69 -- Cutting In; The Blanket; The Funeral (96% in)
There are no more uses of "precedent" in Moby Dick.
Typical Usage
(best examples)