preball en · ADJ
Etymology
From pre- + ball.
Meanings
-
(not-comparable) Before a ball (social event with dancing).
As Alice prepared with her family for the preball dinner, an intimate affair for thirty of Gertrude's closest young friends, she had good reason to worry.
2000, Clarice Stasz, The Vanderbilt Women: Dynasty of Wealth, Glamour and Tragedy: