"She always precedes her lectures with a joke" "He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution"
She prefaced her remarks with a few words of welcome to the guest speaker.
她先说了几句话作为开端,以表示欢迎演讲者。
He prefaced his words by a smile.
他先微笑,尔后开始发言。
The Interpretation of Dreams, he confessed in the preface to the second edition, was 'hard to read'.
I will preface no longer, but proceed.
牛津高阶第八版
美国韦氏词典
Dictionary.com
Free Dictionary
维基百科 (自由的百科全书)