adverb
definition
At an earlier time.
example
I've never done this before.
definition
In advance.
definition
At the front end.
preposition
definition
Earlier than (in time).
example
I want this done before Monday.
definition
In front of in space.
example
He stood before me.
definition
In the presence of.
example
He performed before the troops in North Africa.
definition
Under consideration, judgment, authority of (someone).
example
The case laid before the panel aroused nothing but ridicule.
definition
In store for, in the future of (someone).
definition
In front of, according to a formal system of ordering items.
example
In alphabetical order, "cat" comes before "dog", "canine" before feline".
definition
At a higher or greater position than, in a ranking.
example
An entrepreneur puts market share and profit before quality, an amateur intrinsic qualities before economical considerations.
conjunction
definition
In advance of the time when.
definition
Rather or sooner than.
example
I'll die before I'll tell you anything about it.
Examples of before in a Sentence
Let's go do the chores one last time before we leave.
Night came on before he had finished it.
She rinsed the pot again before responding.
She now saw his face before her.
If I remember rightly, we were sixty-six years old the day before yesterday.
Besides, it was time to replace some of the things she'd been wearing since before they were married.
This was before I knew many words.
He would do many more before the war was over.
I worked with him for two years before I discovered who he really was.
The soil is blanched and accursed there, and before that becomes necessary the earth itself will be destroyed.
You knew before I did.
Before his house was pulled down, when his comrades avoided it as "an unlucky castle," I visited it.
Before Mrs. Jacquot could open it, some one called out, "Is this the house of Jacquot, the charcoal man?"
Destiny woke and ate a few bites before going back to sleep.
He pulled the undershirt over his head before answering.
They knew that they were helpless before so strong an enemy.
I've never thought about it before.
In fact, if she confronted him now and then, he might be more inclined to volunteer information before she found out about it.
She makes many mistakes, of course, twists words and phrases, puts the cart before the horse, and gets herself into hopeless tangles of nouns and verbs; but so does the hearing child.
The mother smoothed the folds of her dyed silk dress before a large Venetian mirror in the wall, and in her trodden-down shoes briskly ascended the carpeted stairs.
It was some time before I could plan it to suit me.
Jim, who was in advance, saw the last stair before him and stuck his head above the rocky sides of the stairway.
Where was I before I came to mother?
Before the ices, champagne was served round.
Several of them ran into Ferapontov's yard before Alpatych's eyes.
It was amusing to see her hold it before her eyes and spell the sentences out on her fingers, just as I had done.
I met them the day before yesterday at the Arkharovs'.
Carmen mentally counted to ten before responding.
But he locked it before he left.
Alex helped the man get the luggage into the trunk and then hurried to assist Carmen into the car before the man could touch her.
It does so in orders of magnitude better than what came before it—libraries—but only better, not differently.
Would she ever reach the point that she felt comfortable about spending the money he had earned before they met?
Long ago, before Gutenberg, if you wanted to know something, you had to memorize it.
Rostov and Ilyin gave rein to their horses for a last race along the incline before reaching Bogucharovo, and Rostov, outstripping Ilyin, was the first to gallop into the village street.
He hesitated before answering.
The sides of the tunnel showed before them like the inside of a long spy-glass, and the floor became more level.
Let's pick her while we have the chance, before the man with the star comes back.
After this experience it was a long time before I climbed another tree.
The cart before the horse is neither beautiful nor useful.
The choices we make to test options never before contemplated will tell us all kinds of new things about ourselves.
On moving to the drawing room he handed the letter to Princess Mary and, spreading out before him the plan of the new building and fixing his eyes upon it, told her to read the letter aloud.
The man who ten years before and a year later was considered an outlawed brigand is sent to an island two days' sail from France, which for some reason is presented to him as his dominion, and guards are given to him and millions of money are paid him.
Before everyone stopped laughing, he continued.
The great cathedral Notre Dame de Paris, which was begun before your birth, would not be finished by your death.
It rises again from the same point as before--Paris.
The man had taken a step or two across the glass roof before he noticed the presence of the strangers; but then he stopped abruptly.
They were so astonished that they fell upon their knees before the king and confessed their crime.
She had signs for SMALL and LARGE long before I came to her.
But scarcely had Pierre uttered these words before he was attacked from three sides.
Why hadn't they tried it before?