sooner
/ˈsunɚ/ adverb C2- rather. · I would sooner die than marry you!· Sooner than have a problem later, I made sure the policy was in order.
From the library
No sooner had Villefort left the salon, than he assumed the grave air of a man who holds the balance of life and death in his hands.
“He is dead, dear Mother; for just now a very huge beast with four great feet came to the pool and crushed him to death with his cloven heel.” The Frog, puffing herself out, inquired, “if the beast was as big as that in size.” “Cease, Mother, to puff yourself out,” said her son, “and do not be angry; for you would, I assure you, sooner burst than successfully imitate the hugeness of that monster.”
No sooner had the man fitted a new handle to his axe from it, than he began to use it and quickly felled with his strokes the noblest giants of the forest.
The Traveler no sooner felt his genial rays than he took off one garment after another, and at last, fairly overcome with heat, undressed and bathed in a stream that lay in his path.
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