Definitions
1.PrepositionEarlier than (in time)."I want this done before Monday."
2.PrepositionIn front of in space."He stood before me.; We sat before the fire to warm ourselves."
3.PrepositionIn the presence of."He performed before the troops in North Africa.; He spoke before a joint session of Congress."
4.PrepositionUnder consideration, judgment, authority of (someone)."The case laid before the panel aroused nothing but ridicule."
5.PrepositionIn store for, in the future of (someone)."Your whole life is before you."
6.PrepositionIn front of, according to a formal system of ordering items."In alphabetical order, "cat" comes before "dog", "canine" before feline"."
7.PrepositionAt a higher or greater position than, in a ranking."An entrepreneur puts market share and profit before quality, and amateur intrinsic qualities before economical considerations."
8.AdverbAt an earlier time."I've never done this before.; This achievement far exceeded anything that had come before."
9.AdverbIn advance in position or sequence; ahead."We walked behind while they went before."
10.AdverbAt the front end.
11.ConjunctionIn advance of the time when."; Brush your teeth before you go to bed."
12.ConjunctionRather or sooner than."I'll die before I('ll) tell you anything about it."
13.NounOf before-and-after images: the one that shows the difference before a specified treatment.
14.NounThat which occurred or existed previously.
15.NounA previous form or instance.