Definitions for before
bɪˈfɔr, -ˈfoʊrbe·fore

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

1. earlier, beforeadverb

   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, beforeadverb

   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. beforeadverb

   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. beforeadverb

   in advance

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

3. beforeconjunction

   in advance of the time when

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

4. beforeconjunction

   rather or sooner than

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

5. beforepreposition

   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. beforepreposition

   In front of in space.

   He stood before me.

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

7. beforepreposition

   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. beforepreposition

   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. beforepreposition

   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. beforepreposition

    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(2.50 / 6 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. Beforeadverb

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

9. Beforeadverb

   in advance

10. Beforeadverb

    in time past; previously; already

11. Beforeadverb

    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

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. Ravindra Pasale:

   Don't allow the ego fruit to ripen before it falls.

2. Hans Peterson:

   The Chinese situation sets the agenda right now in combination with oil prices, before we see some meaningful transparency from China in its actions and some stability in the commodity markets, we are not going to get a stabilization.

3. Nichole Britt:

   I’m having to take some time off work and my husband is arranging to work from home in the afternoons so he can pick up, we’re starting a new school year in a new school in a new state, and now here’s one more thing that wasn’t on our radar before.

4. Morgan Stanley:

   The company showed a degree of confidence in a return to service before year-end and getting up to 57 per month on 737 production in about 12 months, which investors were increasingly skeptical of.

5. Mark Amodei:

   I think the fact they're going through the bill section by section at 5:15 p.m. the day before the bill is going to be voted on is indicative of there is more work that needs to be done.

Popularity rank by frequency of use