Meaning & use
presets
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“presets” is a form of “preset”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nouncountable
Saved settings on a device or program that you can choose quickly instead of adjusting everything yourself.
Grammar: Usually plural; the singular preset means one saved setting.
Patterns
- presets for something
- save something as a preset
- apply a preset
The camera has presets for portraits, landscapes, and night shots.
You can save your favorite color settings as presets and reuse them later.
He cycled through the presets on the radio until he found a jazz station.
verbtransitive
Sets a device or control in advance so it works automatically at a chosen time or level.
Grammar: Takes an object: preset the oven. Past tense can be preset or presetted.
Patterns
- preset something
- preset something to something
She preset the oven to start baking at seven in the morning.
The thermostat was preset to keep the room at twenty degrees.
Word forms
| singular | preset |
|---|---|
| third person singular | presets |
| past tense | preset |
| past participle | preset |
| -ing form | presetting |
Common combinations
- factory presets
- The keyboard comes with dozens of factory presets.
- custom presets
- Professional photographers often create custom presets for their editing software.
- save as a preset
- Once you like the sound, save it as a preset.
- preset button
- Press the preset button for your favorite station.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- preset adjective
- Already arranged or fixed in advance, as in a preset channel.
Commonly confused: presets or preset?
presets vs preset
The singular form; use presets for more than one saved setting.
Practice
Choose the sentence that uses presets correctly.
Choose one answer.
Presets is the plural noun for multiple saved settings. Preset alone is singular, presetting is a verb form, and preseted is not a real word.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “presets”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.