Main entry: overture
Definition: orchestral music played at the beginning of an opera or oratorio
Main entry: overture, feeler, approach, advance
Definition: a tentative suggestion designed to elicit the reactions of others
Usage: she rejected his advances
Main entry: overture, preliminary, prelude
Definition: something that serves as a preceding event or introduces what follows
Usage: training is a necessary preliminary to employment; drinks were the overture to dinner