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 section or portion of a journey or course; "then we embarked on the second stage of our Caribbean cruise"
a large platform on which people can stand and can be seen by an audience; "he clambered up onto the stage and got the actors to help him into the box"
a small platform on a microscope where the specimen is mounted for examination
the theater as a profession (usually `the stage'); "an early movie simply showed a long kiss by two actors of the contemporary stage"
any scene regarded as a setting for exhibiting or doing something; "All the world's a stage"--Shakespeare; "it set the stage for peaceful negotiations"
plan, organize, and carry out (an event); "the neighboring tribe staged an invasion"
perform (a play), especially on a stage; "we are going to stage `Othello'"
articulate (a consonant) with the tongue curled back against the palate; "Indian accents can be characterized by the fact that speakers retroflex their consonants"
in the area or vicinity; "a few spectators standing about"; "hanging around"; "waited around for the next flight"
all around or on all sides; "dirty clothes lying around (or about)"; "let's look about for help"; "There were trees growing all around"; "she looked around her"
in or to a reversed position or direction; "about face"; "suddenly she turned around"
to or among many different places or in no particular direction; "wandering about with no place to go"; "people were rushing about"; "news gets around (or about)"; "traveled around in Asia"; "he needs advice from someone who's been around"; "she sleeps around"
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; "the job is (just) about done"; "the baby was almost asleep when the alarm sounded"; "we're almost finished"; "the car all but ran her down"; "he nearly fainted"; "talked for nigh onto 2 hours"; "the recording is well-nigh perfect"; "virtually all the parties signed the contract"; "I was near exhausted by the run"; "most everyone agrees"
in rotation or succession; "turn about is fair play"