| Before 1. (prep.) In front of; preceding in space; ahead of; as, to stand before the fire; before the house. 2. (prep.) Preceding in time; earlier than; previously to; anterior to the time when; -- sometimes with the additional idea of purpose; in order that. 3. (prep.) An advance of; farther onward, in place or time. 4. (prep.) Prior or preceding in dignity, order, rank, right, or worth; rather than. 5. (prep.) In presence or sight of; face to face with; facing. 6. (prep.) Under the cognizance or jurisdiction of. 7. (prep.) Open for; free of access to; in the power of. 8. (adv.) On the fore part; in front, or in the direction of the front; -- opposed to in the rear. 9. (adv.) In advance. 10. (adv.) In time past; previously; already. 11. (adv.) Earlier; sooner than; until then. Thesaurus Entries above, aforetime, ahead, ahead of time, already, ante, before all, before now, beforehand, beforetime, betimes, by choice, by election, by vote, confronting, earlier, early, ere, ere then, erenow, erewhile, erst, erstwhile, facing, first, fore, foremost, foresightedly, formerly, forward, headmost, hereinabove, hereinbefore, heretofore, historically, hitherto, in advance, in advance of, in anticipation, in anticipation of, in front, in front of, in preference, in preference to, in preparation for, in the forefront, in the foreground, in the front, in the future, in the lead, in the past, in times past, once, only yesterday, or ever, preceding, precociously, preferably, prehistorically, previous, previous to, previously, prior to, priorly, rather, rather than, recently, sooner, sooner than, supra, then, theretofore, till, to, to come, to the fore, to the front, until, up ahead, up to, whilom, yesterday, yet |