prefer

prefer (someone or something) to (someone or something else)

To choose, or tend to choose, someone or something as more desirable or valuable than someone or something else. I usually prefer tea to coffee, but I need something a little stronger this morning. I don't know why Amy prefers Tom to Steve—Tom is such a jerk!
See also: prefer, something

prefer charges

To make a formal complaint of wrongdoing or mistreatment against another person. A: "Is it true that Greg preferred charges against you?" B: "Yes, but his claim is completely false! I've never done anything to him!" I really hope our neighbors don't prefer charges against us—I never would have cut down that tree if I had known it was on their property!
See also: charge, prefer

prefer charges against (one)

To file an official legal charge against one; to accuse one of some crime. Used in formal legal language. The woman was given the chance to prefer charges against the man, but she declined. The state will be preferring charges against the company for treason.
See also: charge, prefer
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

had (just) as soon do something

 and would (just) as soon do something
prefer to do something else; to be content to do something. (The would or had is usually expressed as the contraction 'd.) They want me to go into town. I'd as soon stay home. If you're cooking stew tonight, we'd as soon eat somewhere else. I would just as soon stay home as pay to go to see a bad movie.
See also: soon

prefer someone or something to someone (or something else)

to rank the desirability of someone or something over someone or something else. For the post of treasurer, I prefer Don to Jill. I prefer missing a meal to Jill's cooking.
See also: prefer

prefer something against someone

to file legal charges against someone [with the police]; to file a complaint or a charge against someone. The neighbors preferred charges against the driver of the car who ruined their lawns. I will not prefer charges against the driver, since it was partly my fault.
See also: prefer
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • prefer (someone or something) to (someone or something else)
  • prefer to
  • at one with (someone or something)
  • decide
  • decide against
  • decide against (someone or something)
  • decided
  • choose from
  • choose from (people or things)
  • choose among
References in periodicals archive
Six prefer milk first, wine second, and beer third; five prefer beer first, wine second, and milk third; and four prefer wine first, beer second, and milk third.
First, if everyone prefers candidate A to candidate B, then A should be ranked higher than B.
Election selection: are we using the worst voting procedure?
In a survey carried out by carried out by Gallup Pakistan, a nationally representative sample of men and women from across the four provinces was asked "Some people prefer daylight, some people prefer the nighttimes and some people prefer both.
53 percent of Pakistanis prefer daylight over nighttimes: Survey
whether learners prefer information to be presented orally (auditory), visually or in a kinaesthetic form.
From the Learning style survey (n=102), we find that the first year students have a tendency to prefer the reflector learning styles while many students prefer more than one learning style.
Student perceptions of Web-based learning
The closer that the PEF score is to zero the better, since this would indicate little variance between what a student would prefer and what the student feels exists in their classroom.
Improving instruction in multicultural classes by using classroom learning environment
But some actually prefer acrid flavors, reports John I.
There's no accounting for taste