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What is "before"

Crossword clues for before

before
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
before
I.conjunction
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a case comes before a judge/court
▪ The case came before the federal courts.
a case comes to court/comes before the court
▪ The case came to court 21 months later.
an accessory before/after the fact (=someone who helps a criminal before or after the crime)
an hour/three hours etc earlier/before
▪ I had just seen him a few hours earlier.
appear before a court/judge/committee etc
▪ She appeared before Colchester magistrates charged with attempted murder.
before I forget (=forget to get it)
▪ Give me your phone number before I forget.
go before/be put before parliament (=be considered by parliament)
▪ The Bill goes before Parliament on November 16.
go before/be put before parliament (=be considered by parliament)
▪ The Bill goes before Parliament on November 16.
hardly ... when/before
▪ She had hardly sat down when the phone rang.
immediately before/preceding sth
▪ I can’t remember what happened immediately before the crash.
It wasn’t long before (=soon)
▪ It wasn’t long before Lisa arrived.
just before/after/over etc
▪ We moved here just after our son was born.
once before
▪ Paul’s been to Wexford once before.
premarital sex/sex before marriage (=sex happening before marriage)
seen it all before (=has experienced so much that nothing surprises her)
▪ She’s seen it all before in her long career.
sex before/outside marriage
▪ Her religious beliefs prevented sex before marriage.
the day before yesterday
▪ We arrived in France the day before yesterday.
the day before yesterday
▪ They arrived the day before yesterday.
well before
▪ She’s been up since well before dawn.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
I've heard that one before
after/before/until dark
▪ Badgers usually only venture out after dark, so they can be difficult to spot.
▪ I have often come out here alone after dark to breathe it in.
▪ If McQuaid had a big order to fill he mightn't come till after dark.
▪ Not many people chose to take a ride on such a bumpy, gloomy road after dark in the month of January.
▪ Start in the morning and not go home until dark.
▪ That evening I was all right - Joanna would be afloat in the late afternoon, and I could get away before dark.
▪ We had been too nervous to arrive after dark.
▪ We worked from early morning until dark.
be old before your time
be up before sth/sb
▪ Borrowers on a budget plan have to wait till the year is up before they can reap the benefits.
▪ I had not slept much and was up before dawn.
▪ In November 1987 they were up before the court on badger digging charges - one got off due to inadequate evidence.
▪ Rae was up before dawn all that week.
▪ The women were up before first light and called me over for tea.
▪ We will have to be up before dawn for the Buddhist ceremony.
before long
▪ But if past success is any guide, another Nasdaq company will join the fold before long.
▪ He supported individual artists financially, and before long Perkins Cove lured them north.
▪ His problems had been much more serious than mine, but before long he was accepted by everyone.
▪ I found that before long I was eating everything - most people did out of boredom.
▪ If news sites waited around before updating their visitors, before long they'd have none to update.
▪ Late in 1994, Riley abandoned paper altogether and before long, the Riley Guide moved on to the Web.
▪ So I walked down to the sea and before long, I was at the ship and was swimming round it.
▪ Stevie would start spinning stuff out of whole cloth to Bill, and before long, the whole camp would fall silent.
before the Flood
before the day/year etc is out
▪ He might supplant Jones before the year is out.
▪ There will be many more surprises before the year is out.
▪ Voice over Meanwhile up to 1,000 more break-ins are expected in Gloucestershire before the year is out.
before you can say Jack Robinson
before you could blink
before you know it
▪ Spring break will be here before you know it.
▪ You'll be fully recovered before you know it.
▪ You offer to iron his shirt and before you know it, he expects you to do all the housework.
▪ He saves his money, before you know it he owns a car.
▪ It happens before you know it.
▪ It seemed a long way away but before we knew it we were paying the last of the deposits.
▪ One thing kept leading to another, and before I knew it a small industry had been set in motion.
▪ Take time with people, and you will see success in your business before you know it.
▪ They claim that news is just around the corner, and that it will be on us before we know it.
before your time
▪ As for this debut, it comes to us regrettably before its time.
▪ In many ways, his books, written in the first three decades of the last century, were before their time.
▪ No, he was before my time.
▪ She did not look old; rather, she had become wrinkled before her time.
▪ That would be before your time, of course.
▪ The last family to live there was called Wright, but that was well before my time.
▪ The men in the farmyard were all Fallschirmjager, hard young men, old before their time with cropped hair.
▪ There is a basic truth in his assertion, for before his time the use of marble was rare in Roman architecture.
before your very eyes
▪ Get them by blasting the goose-neck helicopter that assembles itself before your very eyes!
▪ He hadn't even touched her, yet she was in severe danger of coming unglued before his very eyes.
▪ He unzipped his fly and peed before their very eyes.
▪ It isn't even about having him perform them for us before our very eyes, on demand.
▪ Michael plans to prepare complete meals before your very eyes.
▪ One hundred and fifty years of glamour sitting on a stool right before your very eyes, that's what she was.
▪ The pounds, shillings and pence were dancing before her very eyes.
best before
carry all/everything before you
▪ For much of 1981 and early 1982 the Social Democrats seemed to carry all before them.
▪ Hollywood had carried all before it but even the Hollywood product was fairly diversified.
▪ Neath carried all before them in winning the inaugural Heineken League last season - or did they?
▪ The conventional view, then as now, was that Lanfranc had carried all before him in asserting the rights of Canterbury.
cast/throw pearls before swine
dangle sth in front of sb/before sb
don't count your chickens (before they're hatched)
▪ Getting an Oscar would be wonderful, but I think it's too early to count my chickens.
▪ If you want to go on a date sometime, you can ask me. But don't count your chickens.
▪ You'll probably get the job, but don't count your chickens just yet.
go before sb/sth
look before you leap
▪ Proceed with caution and, at the risk of sounding like a tabloid astrologer, look before you leap.
▪ Whatever you decide, it pays to look before you leap.
not before time/and about time (too)
put the cart before the horse
▪ It is Labour's insistence on putting the cart before the horse which fills me with gloom.
▪ It seems to me that Mr Topolski is putting the cart before the horse.
▪ This is putting the cart before the horse.
▪ This may sound like putting the cart before the horse and being unnecessarily pessimistic.
run before you can walk
▪ I think too that she wants to run before she can walk.
▪ Just don't try to run before you can walk.
▪ Try to be honest with your use of the table and don't attempt to run before you can walk.
sb's life flashes before their eyes
the calm before the storm
▪ Charity should have recognised it as the calm before the storm, but she didn't.
the day/week/year etc before last
▪ I didn't know myself where the house was until the week before last.
▪ In the week before last, claims rose by 22, 000.
▪ The Sunday newspaper articles had come out the week before last, and were still bringing in letters.
the lull before the storm
▪ Then came the lull before the storm.
▪ There was a feeling that something was in the air, that it was the lull before the storm.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Before you get angry, try and remember what it was like to be fifteen.
▪ Anthony wants to see you before you go.
▪ It will be a few days before we know the full results.
▪ Lock up your bike before it gets stolen.
▪ Take that dog indoors before it bites somebody.
▪ There's a lot to do before we can submit the proposal.
▪ We don't know how long it'll be before I get the cast off my arm.
II.preposition
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Call me back before 5.30.
▪ Denise got there before me.
▪ I think you were before me in line, weren't you?
▪ I visited them just before Christmas.
▪ Islington station is one stop before Finsbury Park on the Victoria Line.
▪ My son is most important - he comes before anyone.
▪ No cookies before dinner, Andy.
▪ Our daughter was born just before Christmas.
▪ Quality should come before quantity.
▪ She gave a presentation before the board of directors.
▪ She trembled before the prospect of meeting him again.
▪ The highway stretched out before them.
▪ The priest knelt before the altar.
▪ The proposal came before the city council a year ago.
▪ This lady was before you, sir.
▪ Turn left just before the traffic lights.
▪ We had the whole summer before us.
▪ You should go, before John gets back.
III.adverb
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ I've never been to this restaurant before.
▪ I had never seen such an ugly baby before.
▪ I know I've seen him somewhere before.
▪ Sheila and I became friends in 1995, although we had actually met several years before.
▪ The king's guards walked before.
▪ Wendell had never been on a plane before.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ But Garvey and Lucie had to clown more than before.
▪ This was a different Fernando from the one she had loved so passionately before.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Before

Before \Be*fore"\, prep. [OE. beforen, biforen, before, AS. beforan; pref. be- + foran, fore, before. See Be-, and Fore.]

  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.
    --Milton.

  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.
    --John viii. 58.

    Before this treatise can become of use, two points are necessary.
    --Swift.

    Note: Formerly before, in this sense, was followed by that. ``Before that Philip called thee . . . I saw thee.''
    --John i. 48.

  3. An advance of; farther onward, in place or time.

    The golden age . . . is before us.
    --Carlyle.

  4. Prior or preceding in dignity, order, rank, right, or worth; rather than.

    He that cometh after me is preferred before me.
    --John i. 1

  5. The eldest son is before the younger in succession.
    --Johnson.

    5. In presence or sight of; face to face with; facing.

    Abraham bowed down himself before the people.
    --Gen. xxiii. 12.

    Wherewith shall I come before the Lord?
    --Micah vi.

  6. 6. Under the cognizance or jurisdiction of.

    If a suit be begun before an archdeacon.
    --Ayliffe.

  7. Open for; free of access to; in the power of.

    The world was all before them where to choose.
    --Milton.

    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.

Before

Before \Be*fore"\, 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 Chron. xiii. 14.

  2. In advance. ``I come before to tell you.''
    --Shak.

  3. In time past; previously; already.

    You tell me, mother, what I knew before.
    --Dryden.

  4. Earlier; sooner than; until then.

    When the butt is out, we will drink water; not a drop before.
    --Shak.

    Note: Before is often used in self-explaining compounds; as, before-cited, before-mentioned; beforesaid.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
before

Old English beforan "before, in front of, in the presence of, in former times," from Proto-Germanic *bi- "by" + *forana "from the front," adverbial derivative of *fora (see fore (adv.)). Compare Old Frisian bifara, Old Saxon biforan, Old High German bifora, German bevor. Contrasting before and after in illustrations is from Hogarth (1768). Before the mast in old sailing ships denoting "common sailor," is from the place of their berths, in front of the fore-mast.

Wiktionary
before

adv. At an earlier time. conj. 1 in advance of the time when 2 (context informal English) rather or sooner than prep. Earlier than (in time).

Related phrases:
WordNet
before

  1. adv. 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" [syn: earlier]

  2. 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" [syn: ahead, in front]

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Before (short story)

"Before" is a short story by Gael Baudino written deliberately in a style similar to William Faulkner's: the foreword to the story says, "the sometimes strange syntax and editorial elisions are intentional in this homage to Faulkner." It concerns Greta Harlow, a young woman living in a Lee's Corners, a small town in fictional Oktibushubee County. She is raped and impregnated by Jimmy White, son of a prominent and wealthy businessman. An elderly wealthy woman, Mrs. Gavin, counsels her on how to abort the baby. The story ends with Greta debating whether to follow through with the abortion or not.

Lee's Corners, Sophonsiba Gavin, and Greta's child, Magic, all play key parts in Baudino's most recent book, "The Borders of Life" (written as Gael Kathryns).

Category:1996 short stories Category:American short stories Category:Fantasy short stories

Before (song)

"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.

Before (album)

Before is an EP by electronic producer Gold Panda, released by Gold Panda himself in September 2009. The track "Heaps" came to prominence when it was used as a beat by American rapper Curren$y for a video by Pitchfork Media leading to Curren$y exclaiming "Give me 16 beats from Gold Panda."

Before

Before is the opposite of after.

It may refer to:

  • Before (album) by Gold Panda
  • "Before" (song) by the Pet Shop Boys
  • "Before" (short story) by Gael Baudino
Related phrases:

Usage examples of "before".

It was now late in the afternoon, and Ralph pondered whether he should abide the night where he was and sleep the night there, or whether he should press on in hope of winning to some clear place before dark.

Moreover, thou sayest it that the champions of the Dry Tree, who would think but little of an earl for a leader, are eager to follow me: and if thou still doubt what this may mean, abide, till in two days or three thou see me before the foeman.

I have heard tell of thee: thou art abiding the turn of the days up at the castle yonder, as others have done before thee.

He, therefore, who is known to have lapsed into heresy before his abjuration, if after his abjuration he receives heretics, visits them, gives or sends them presents or gifts, or shows favour to them, etc.

The second is when he has abjured al heresy in general, and yet lapses into another heresy, even if he has never before been suspected or accused of that heresy.

She whirled, her right hand raised, but before she could use the controlling ring she lay sprawled on the floor, one side of her face ablaze from the blow of a phantom hand.

Kingsley looked out over the flower beds that, still abloom in spite of the lateness of the season, lay before Aylesberg Hall.

Weeden gave it to his companion after the end, as a mute clue to the abnormality which had occurred, or whether, as is more probable, Smith had it before, and added the underscoring himself from what he had managed to extract from his friend by shrewd guessing and adroit cross-questioning.

As it was, the spray drenched everyone aboard, causing them to bend their backs that much harder, long before Dunlop screamed at them to do so.

Nearly every item that came aboard was subject to a gentle touch of his hand before being taken below.

Once was I taken of the foemen in the town where I abode when my lord was away from me, and a huge slaughter of innocent folk was made, and I was cast into prison and chains, after I had seen my son that I had borne to my lord slain before mine eyes.

Whatever be the inequality in the hardness of the materials of which the rock consists, even in the case of pudding-stone, the surface is abraded so evenly as to leave the impression that a rigid rasp has moved over all the undulations of the land, advancing in one and the same direction and levelling all before it.

It was possible that Abraxas was nowhere Remo could reach him before the precious minutes were up.

Not only was it exceptionally lofty, and on one flank of that series of bluffs which has before been mentioned as constituting the line upon which the Confederate grip of the stream was based, but the tortuous character of the channel gave particular facilities for an enfilading fire on vessels both before and after they came abreast the works.

Her senses abrim, she forgot everything but the feverish need clamoring within her, the need to be filled as never before.