preference

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The selecting of someone or something over another or others.
2. n. The right or chance to so choose.
3. n. Someone or something so chosen. See Synonyms at choice.
4. n. The state of being preferred.
5. n. Law A priority of payment given to one or more creditors by an insolvent debtor.
6. n. Law The right of a creditor to priority of payment.
7. n. The granting of precedence or advantage to one country or group of countries in levying duties or in other matters of international trade.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The act of preferring or choosing one thing rather than another, or the state of being preferred or chosen; estimation of one thing above another; choice.
2. n. Specifically, in law, the payment or right to have payment of one debt or class of debtsmade by a debtor or out of his estate, in full, before any of the assets are applied to unpreferred debts: as, the debtor's assignment gave a preference to demands for borrowed money; the state has a preference for taxes.
3. n. The object of choice; a person, thing, or course of action chosen preferably to others.
4. n. In the game of boston, one of the two suits of the color of the card turned up, just after the first deal. The suit turned up is the first preference, and the other of the same color the second preference. These suits are more properly called belle and petite; but they are called preference because, of two players making equal offers, that one has the first preference who offers in belle, and that one the second preference who offers in petite.
5. n. A European game of cards, something like boston.

Wiktionary

1. n. The selection of one thing or person over others.
2. n. The option to so select, and the one selected.
3. n. The state of being preferred over others.
4. n. A strong liking or personal valuation.
5. n. A preferential bias; partiality; discrimination.
6. n. Preferans, a card game, principally played in Eastern Europe.
7. v. US To give preferential treatment to; to give a preference to.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The act of Preferring, or the state of being preferred; the setting of one thing before another; precedence; higher estimation; predilection; choice; also, the power or opportunity of choosing.
2. n. That which is preferred; the object of choice or superior favor; as, which is your preference?

WordNet 3.0

1. n. grant of favor or advantage to one over another (especially to a country or countries in matters of international trade, such as levying duties)
2. n. the right or chance to choose
3. n. a strong liking
4. n. a predisposition in favor of something