before

preposition

/bɪˈfɔːr/

/-ˈfɔːr/

Definition

B1 in front of: The letter K comes before L in the English alphabet. Many mothers put their children's needs before their own. We have the whole weekend before us - what shall we do? He stood up before a whole roomful of people, and asked her to marry him.Ahead, in front and beyond A2 If a place is before another place, you will arrive at it first when you are travelling towards the second place: The bus stop is just before the school.Ahead, in front and beyond › To be before someone or a group of people, is to be formally considered or examined by that person or group: The proposal before the committee is that we try and reduce our spending by ten percent. The men appeared before the judge yesterday.Analysing and evaluatingAssessing and estimating valueLaw courts

(Definition of before preposition from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)