All 5 Uses

premise
in
The Tipping Point
(Edited)

The whole premise behind sales, or supermarket specials, is that we, as consumers, are very aware of the prices of things and will react accordingly: we buy more in response to lower prices and less in response to higher prices.
Chpt 2

premise = assumption (used to logically build an argument)
The premise is challenging and conceptual, but fascinating.
Chpt 3

premise = the underlying situation upon which a show was based
[Of an early Sesame Street cartoon episode] The problem, at root, is with the premise of the show — the essential joke that Big Bird doesn't want to be known as a big bird. That's the kind of wordplay that a preschooler simply doesn't understand.
Chpt 3 *

premise = the underlying situation
They are both based on the premise that an epidemic can be reversed, can be tipped, by tinkering with the smallest details of the immediate environment.
Chpt 4

premise = assumption (used to logically build an argument)
The absolutist approach to fighting drugs proceeds on the premise that experimentation equals addiction.
Chpt 7 *

Definitions:

(1) (premise as in: the premise of the argument)
something assumed to be true and upon which other things are based
(2) (premise as in: the premise of the story)
something that provides context -- such as the underlying situation in a situation comedy
(3) (premise as in: she premised her comments by...)
provide a preface or introduction
(4) (premises as in: located on the premises)
land and/or buildings -- especially of a business or organization
(5) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)