at an earlier time or formerly; "she had previously lived in Chicago"; "he was previously president of a bank"; "better than anything previously proposed"; "a previously unquestioned attitude"; "antecedently arranged"
(comparative and superlative of `early') more early than; most early; "a fashion popular in earlier times"; "his earlier work reflects the influence of his teacher"; "Verdi's earliest and most raucous opera"
earlier in time; previously; "I had known her before"; "as I said before"; "he called me the day before but your call had come even earlier"; "her parents had died four years earlier"; "I mentioned that problem earlier"
the continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through the present to the past
a person's experience on a particular occasion; "he had a time holding back the tears"; "they had a good time together"
an instance or single occasion for some event; "this time he succeeded"; "he called four times"; "he could do ten at a clip"
an indefinite period (usually marked by specific attributes or activities); "he waited a long time"; "the time of year for planting"; "he was a great actor is his time"
a suitable moment; "it is time to go"
a period of time considered as a resource under your control and sufficient to accomplish something; "take time to smell the roses"; "I didn't have time to finish"; "it took more than half my time"
adjust so that a force is applied and an action occurs at the desired time; "The good player times his swing so as to hit the ball squarely"
regulate or set the time of; "time the clock"
assign a time for an activity or event; "The candidate carefully timed his appearance at the disaster scene"
set the speed, duration, or execution of; "we time the process to manufacture our cars very precisely"
prompt willingness; "readiness to continue discussions"; "they showed no eagerness to spread the gospel"; "they disliked his zeal in demonstrating his superiority"; "he tried to explain his forwardness in battle"
the state of having been made ready or prepared for use or action (especially military action); "putting them in readiness"; "their preparation was more than adequate"
the first element in a countable series; "the first of the month"
the first or highest in an ordering or series; "He wanted to be the first"
being the gear producing the lowest drive speed; "use first gear on steep hills"
ranking above all others; "was first in her class"; "the foremost figure among marine artists"; "the top graduate"
preceding all others in time or space or degree; "the first house on the right"; "the first day of spring"; "his first political race"; "her first baby"; "the first time"; "the first meetings of the new party"; "the first phase of his training"
highest in pitch or chief among parts or voices or instruments or orchestra sections; "first soprano"; "the first violin section"; "played first horn"
indicating the beginning unit in a series
before anything else; "first we must consider the garter snake"
the initial time; "when Felix first saw a garter snake"
before another in time, space, or importance; "I was here first"; "let's do this job first"
the property created by the space between two objects or points
size of the gap between two places; "the distance from New York to Chicago"; "he determined the length of the shortest line segment joining the two points"
indifference by personal withdrawal; "emotional distance"
a distant region; "I could see it in the distance"
the interval between two times; "the distance from birth to death"; "it all happened in the space of 10 minutes"
a remote point in time; "if that happens it will be at some distance in the future"; "at a distance of ten years he had forgotten many of the details"
keep at a distance; "we have to distance ourselves from these events in order to continue living"