at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time; "early morning"; "an early warning"; "early diagnosis"; "an early death"; "took early retirement"; "an early spring"; "early varieties of peas and tomatoes mature before most standard varieties"
being or occurring at an early stage of development; "in an early stage"; "early forms of life"; "early man"; "an early computer"
of an early stage in the development of a language or literature; "the Early Hebrew alphabetical script is that used mainly from the 11th to the 6th centuries B.C."; "Early Modern English is represented in documents printed from 1476 to 1700"
very young; "at an early age"
expected in the near future; "look for an early end to the negotiations"
before the usual time or the time expected; "she graduated early"; "the house was completed ahead of time"
a building where young people receive education; "the school was built in 1932"; "he walked to school every morning"
the process of being formally educated at a school; "what will you do when you finish school?"
a large group of fish; "a school of small glittering fish swam by"
a body of creative artists or writers or thinkers linked by a similar style or by similar teachers; "the Venetian school of painting"
an educational institution; "the school was founded in 1900"
an educational institution's faculty and students; "the school keeps parents informed"; "the whole school turned out for the game"
the period of instruction in a school; the time period when schools is in session; "stay after school"; "he didn't miss a single day of school"; "when the school day was done we would walk home together"
swim in or form a large group of fish; "A cluster of schooling fish was attracted to the bait"
educate in or as if in a school; "The children are schooled at great cost to their parents in private institutions"
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"