1
[ verb ] be earlier in time; go back further

Examples

"Stone tools precede bronze tools"

Used in print

("Editorials"...)

A British writer , Richard_Haestier , in a book , Dead_Men_Tell_Tales , recalls that in the turmoil preceding French_Revolution the body of Henry_/4 , , who had died nearly 180 years earlier , was torn to pieces by a mob .

(Brand Blanshard, "The Emotive Theory," Robert...)

And there is a way in which he might hold that badness did in this case precede our own feeling of disapproval without belonging_to the pain itself .

2
[ verb ] come before

Synonyms

predate

Examples

"Most English adjectives precede the noun they modify"

Used in print

(Hugh Kelly and Ted Ziehe, "Glossary Lookup Made Easy"...)

form - any unique sequence of alphabetic_characters that can appear in a language preceded and followed by a space .

Let us assume that * * f is identical to the form of an occurrence * * f which preceded * * f in the text .

Related terms

lie lie precession

3
[ verb ] be the predecessor of

Synonyms

come_before

Examples

"Bill preceded John in the long line of Susan's husbands"

Used in print

(Clement Greenberg, "Collage" in his Art and...)

But even before that , Picasso had glimpsed and entered , for a moment , a certain revolutionary path in which no one had preceded him .

4
[ verb ] move ahead (of others) in time or space

Synonyms

lead

Used in print

(R. Leslie Gourse, With Gall and Honey....)

I thought he would ask us to leave because Rachel and I were bare-armed , but he looked down into his beard and preceded us down the corridor .

Related terms

follow travel lead precession

5
[ verb ] furnish with a preface or introduction

Examples

"She always precedes her lectures with a joke" "He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution"

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