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Before   /bɪfˈɔr/  /bˌifˈɔr/   Listen
preposition
Before  prep.  
1.
In front of; preceding in space; ahead of; as, to stand before the fire; before the house. "His angel, who shall go Before them in a cloud and pillar of fire."
2.
Preceding in time; earlier than; previously to; anterior to the time when; sometimes with the additional idea of purpose; in order that. "Before Abraham was, I am." "Before this treatise can become of use, two points are necessary." Note: Formerly before, in this sense, was followed by that. "Before that Philip called thee... I saw thee."
3.
An advance of; farther onward, in place or time. "The golden age... is before us."
4.
Prior or preceding in dignity, order, rank, right, or worth; rather than. "He that cometh after me is preferred before me." "The eldest son is before the younger in succession."
5.
In presence or sight of; face to face with; facing. "Abraham bowed down himself before the people." "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?"
6.
Under the cognizance or jurisdiction of. "If a suit be begun before an archdeacon."
7.
Open for; free of access to; in the power of. "The world was all before them where to choose."
Before the mast (Naut.), as a common sailor, because the sailors live in the forecastle, forward of the foremast.
Before the wind (Naut.), in the direction of the wind and by its impulse; having the wind aft.


adverb
Before  adv.  
1.
On the fore part; in front, or in the direction of the front; opposed to in the rear. "The battle was before and behind."
2.
In advance. "I come before to tell you."
3.
In time past; previously; already. "You tell me, mother, what I knew before."
4.
Earlier; sooner than; until then. "When the butt is out, we will drink water; not a drop before." Note: Before is often used in self-explaining compounds; as, before-cited, before-mentioned; beforesaid.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Before" Quotes from Famous Books



... my Father love me, because I lay down my life."[088] And when betrayal and apprehension brought His ministry to a close, He would allow no sword to be drawn in His defence, but was brought as a "lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened ...
— Exposition of the Apostles Creed • James Dodds
... But before Jemmy could attend to this, Mr. Waterhouse, the stranger whose life they had preserved, raised himself on one elbow, and extended his hand to the miniature-frame. Directly he looked at it, he raised himself higher up—turned it about once ...
— Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, September, 1850 • Various
... resident Scotch ambassadors, to announce to the queen his approach; and she voluntarily promised that the life of Mary should be spared till his proposals were heard. His reception in London was somewhat ungracious;—no one was sent to welcome or convoy him, and it was ten days before he and sir Robert Melvil his coadjutor were admitted to an audience. Elizabeth's first address to them was, "A thing long looked for should be welcome when it comes; I would now see your master's offers." Gray desired first to be assured that the cause for which those ...
— Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth • Lucy Aikin
... sir," replied the groom. "He has never taken less than a red ribbon. Only one horse beat him at the bars last winter in New York. It was Mr. Warburton's fault that he did not take first prize. He rode him in the park the day before the contest, and the animal caught a bad ...
— The Man on the Box • Harold MacGrath
... Little did I imagine the desperate plan that was already forming in her mind when she uttered these words, that before the close of another day would indeed have proved her "brave even ...
— Zarlah the Martian • R. Norman Grisewood


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