Definitions for before
bɪˈfɔr, -ˈfoʊrbe·fore

Princeton's WordNet(3.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. earlier, before(adverb)

   earlier in time; previously

   "I had known her before"; "as I said before"; "he called me the day before but your call had come even earlier"; "her parents had died four years earlier"; "I mentioned that problem earlier"

2. ahead, in front, before(adverb)

   at or in the front

   "I see the lights of a town ahead"; "the road ahead is foggy"; "staring straight ahead"; "we couldn't see over the heads of the people in front"; "with the cross of Jesus marching on before"

Wiktionary(3.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. before(Adverb)

   at an earlier time

   I've never done this before.

   Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)

2. before(Adverb)

   in advance

   Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)

3. before(Conjunction)

   in advance of the time when

   Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)

4. before(Conjunction)

   rather or sooner than

   Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)

5. before(Preposition)

   Earlier than (in time).

   I want this done before Monday.

   Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)

6. before(Preposition)

   In front of in space.

   He stood before me.

   Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)

7. before(Preposition)

   Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).

   The case laid before the panel aroused nothing but ridicule.

   Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)

8. before(Preposition)

   In store for, in the future of (someone).

   The period before us looks grim because of the economical crisis.

   Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)

9. before(Preposition)

   In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items.

   In alphabetical order, "cat" comes before "dog", "canine" before feline".

   Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)

10. before(Preposition)

    At a higher or greater position in a subjective ranking.

    An entrepreneur puts market share and profit before quality, an amateur intrinsic qualities before economical considerations.

    Etymology: From (adverb and preposition), from beforan, itself from be- + foran 'before' (from fore)

Webster Dictionary(2.80 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Before

   in front of; preceding in space; ahead of; as, to stand before the fire; before the house

2. Before

   preceding in time; earlier than; previously to; anterior to the time when; -- sometimes with the additional idea of purpose; in order that

3. Before

   an advance of; farther onward, in place or time

4. Before

   prior or preceding in dignity, order, rank, right, or worth; rather than

5. Before

   in presence or sight of; face to face with; facing

6. Before

   under the cognizance or jurisdiction of

7. Before

   open for; free of access to; in the power of

8. Before(adverb)

   on the fore part; in front, or in the direction of the front; -- opposed to in the rear

9. Before(adverb)

   in advance

10. Before(adverb)

    in time past; previously; already

11. Before(adverb)

    earlier; sooner than; until then

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Before

   "Before" is a single by UK electronic music group Pet Shop Boys released as the first single from the group's 1996 album Bilingual. The single, upon its release, peaked at #7 on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, it reached #1 on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play and reached #7 on the US Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, equalling #107 on the main U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Before

   be-fōr′, prep. in front of (time or place): in presence or sight of (Before God): under the cognisance of, as in before the court, the magistrate, or the house: previous to: in preference to: superior to.—adv. in front: sooner than hitherto.—conj. previous to the time when (often with that).—advs. Before′hand, before the time: by way of preparation; Before′time, in former time.—To be beforehand with, to forestall in any action. [A.S. beforan. See Fore.]

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'before' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #180

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'before' in Written Corpus Frequency: #312

3. Adverbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'before' in Adverbs Frequency: #82

How to pronounce before?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say before in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of before in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of before in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of before in a Sentence

1. Gavin Newsom:

   Before she can be safely released, Van Houten must do more to develop her understanding of the factors that caused her to seek acceptance from such a negative, violent influence, and perpetrate extreme acts of wanton violence.

2. Oregon State coach Scott Rueck:

   I dont think its up for discussion who No. 1 is. Louisville, Stanford, N.C. State, Mississippi State and UCLA rounded out the first 10 teams, which were unchanged from the previous poll. Before this season, South Carolina had never finished the season higher than No. 3. The Gamecocks topped the Top 25 the final 10 weeks of a season cut short before the NCAA Tournament by concerns about spreading the coronavirus pandemic. The AP has always released The AP final poll of the season before the start of the tournament that settles the national championship. Staley said she wasnt sure if The Gamecocks might recognize this achievement next year with a banner or something else since there was no tournament. I want to highlight our year. Only fitting for our seniors, only fitting for our team we put together, she said. Fitting to recognize what was accomplished this year for us. The Ducks, led by star Sabrina Ionescu, were ranked No. 1 for four weeks during the season. Their previous best finish in the poll was sixth two seasons ago. Its really neat. Going into the tournament we had the strongest resume and were playing really, really well, Ducks coach Kelly Graves said. UConns final ranking was its lowest since the team finished eighth in the last poll of the 2005-06 season. UConn had been four or higher every season since. Northwestern, which shared the regular-season Big Ten title, was 11th. Its the best finish for the Wildcats ever, topping their 13th-place ranking in 1990. Its only the sixth time in school history the team was ranked in the final poll. Its been a wild ride, Northwestern coach Joe McKeown said. Weve had so many people enjoy watching the program this year and see it grow. Im sad we didnt get a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament, but we have a great young group. CONFERENCE DOMINANCE The Pac-12 has been the top conference in the poll all season and finished with three teams in the first 10 and six in the Top 25. I feel like we have been doing that for a while now. I think back to four years ago, I think the conference statistically might have been a little stronger throughout that year, 2017.

3. Luke Walton:

   I don’t think I’ve ever seen that before, and you’re losing by 15 all game, it’s tough right now. It’s really tough.

4. Adam Schiff:

   And we want to make it abundantly clear that any effort by the secretary, by the president or anyone else to interfere with the congress' ability to call before it relevant witnesses will be considered obstruction of the lawful functions of congress.

5. Jenny Beth Martin:

   We were working on down ballot races, we needed to see that through before we turned our attention to the general election.

Images & Illustrations of before

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