verb, adjective, noun
verb [VN] (formal)
1 to make sth, especially sth bad, happen suddenly or sooner than it should:
His resignation precipitated a leadership crisis.
2 ~ sb/sth into sth to suddenly force sb/sth into a particular state or condition:
The assassination of the president precipitated the country into war.
adjective (formal) (of an action or a decision) happening very quickly or suddenly and usually without enough care and thought:
the precipitate resignation of the director * To force a decision now would be precipitate.
precipitately adverb:
to act precipitately
noun (chemistry) a solid substance that has been separated from a liquid in a chemical process:
A yellow precipitate should form immediately.
