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- Dictionarybefore/bɪˈfɔː/
adverb
- 1. during the period of time preceding a particular event or time: "my playing days had ended six years before" Similar
- 2. in front of someone or something: archaic "they began trotting through the city with guards running before and behind"
conjunction
- 1. in advance of the time when: "they lived rough for four days before they were arrested"
- 2. in preference to (doing a particular thing): "they would die before they would cooperate with each other"
preposition
- 1. during the period of time preceding (a particular event or time): "she had to rest before dinner" Similar Opposite
- 2. in front of: "Matilda stood before her, panting" Similar
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Before is a preposition, an adverb and a conjunction. Before means earlier than the time or event mentioned: … Before as a preposition. We use before most commonly with noun phrases to refer to timed events: … Before, by, till, until.
1. a (1) : forward of : in front of. stood before the fire. (2) : in the presence of. speaking before the conference. b. : under the jurisdiction or consideration of.
Before definition: previous to; earlier or sooner than. See examples of BEFORE used in a sentence.
You use before when you are talking about time. For example, if something happened the day before a particular date or event, it happened during the previous day.
1. Previous to in time; earlier than. 2. In front of. 3. In store for; awaiting: The young man's whole life lies before him. 4. Into or in the presence of: She asked that the visitor be brought before her. 5. Under the consideration or jurisdiction of: The case is now before the court. 6.
When one thing precedes another, it comes before. You put your socks on before your shoes, you close the door before you lock it, and you should make sure the store is open before you leave home. The word before comes from the Old English beforan, meaning “in front of” or “in former times.”
(rather formal) used to say that somebody/something is in a position in front of somebody/something. They knelt before the throne. Before you is a list of the points we have to discuss. compare behind. used to say that something is facing somebody in the future. The task before us is a daunting one. The whole summer lay before me.
BEFORE meaning: 1. earlier than something or someone: 2. in a position in front of someone or something: 3. at a…. Learn more.
before. preposition. /bɪˈfɔr/ earlier than someone or something before lunch the day before yesterday The year before last he won a gold medal, and the year before that he won a silver. She's lived there since before the war. He arrived before me. She became a lawyer as her father had before her.
What does the word before mean? There are 38 meanings listed in OED's entry for the word before, four of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. See meaning & use. How common is the word before? About 500 occurrences per million words in modern written English. See frequency.
