before
/bɪˈfoɹ/ noun C2- Of before-and-after images: the one that shows the difference before a specified treatment.
- That which occurred or existed previously.
Plural befores
From the library
The painful catastrophe he had just witnessed appeared effectually to have rent away the veil which the intoxication of the evening before had raised between himself and his memory.
He must have placed it on the table before he was attacked; otherwise, of course, it would have fallen when he fell.
He saw before him an officer delegated to enforce the law, and perfectly well knew that it would be as unavailing to seek pity from a magistrate decked with his official scarf, as to address a petition to some cold marble effigy.
“A pretty silence truly!” said the old father of the bridegroom, as he carried to his lips a glass of wine of the hue and brightness of the topaz, and which had just been placed before Mercédès herself.
Other matches
Learn before in real texts
With a free account, hover any word in the library for its meaning, hear it read aloud, save words for review timed to your memory, and see how much of each book you already know.