precious1/ˋprɛʃəs; ˈpreʃəs/adj 1 something that is precious is valuable or important and should not be wasted 宝贵的: precious seconds/minutes/time etc We cannot afford to waste precious time. 我们浪费不起宝贵的时间。the planet's precious resources 地球上的宝贵资源2 precious memories or possessions are very important to you because they remind you of people or events in your life〔记忆或所有物〕珍贵的﹐宝贵的: +to I know it's old, but it's very precious to me. 我知道它旧了﹐但对我来说它很珍贵。3 valuable because of being rare 珍稀的﹐贵重的: precious metal (=a metal such as gold or silver) 贵金属precious stone (=a jewel such as a diamond or ruby) 宝石
precious2adv precious little/fewinformal very little or very few【非正式】非常少: We had precious little time left. 我们没有多少时间了。