priming

Etymology

noun

1. (psychology) The implicit memory effect in which exposure to a stimulus influences response to a subsequent stimulus.
2. A substance used as a primer.
   The spot was bright and lively now; but in winter it became necessary to place sandbags against the door, and to stuff up the keyhole against the wind and rain, which had worn the paint so thin that the priming and knotting showed through. 1888, Thomas Hardy, “An Imaginative Woman”, in Wessex Tales
3. The powder or other combustible used to communicate fire to a charge of gunpowder, as in a firearm.
4. The carrying over of water, with the steam, from the boiler, as into the cylinder.
   There have been failures, of course, and especially delays due to bad steaming, and, more often, priming. 1959 April, P. Ransome-Wallis, “The Southern in Trouble on the Kent Coast”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 216

verb

1. present participle and gerund of prime