What does immediately preceding mean?

"Immediately preceding" means coming directly before something else in time or sequence. It emphasizes that there is no gap or interruption between the two things.

Here are some examples:

* "The immediately preceding chapter discussed the history of the conflict." This means the previous chapter, without anything else coming in between, talked about the conflict's history.

* "The immediately preceding sentence contained the key information." This means the sentence right before this one was crucial to understanding the topic.

* "The immediately preceding week saw a surge in new cases." This means the week before the current one had an increase in cases.

In short, "immediately preceding" signifies a direct, unbroken connection in time or order.