Definition of "before" []

• Earlier in time: They called me the day before. (adverb)
• In front; ahead. (adverb)
• Previous to in time; earlier than. (preposition)
• In front of. (preposition)
• In store for; awaiting: The young man's whole life lies before him. (preposition)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "What this bill does do, in my opinion, is to cover a looming problem of insurance premiums spiking as the boomers age (ie. attempting to get a handle on a financial crisis *before* it takes down a great number of decent people) and a populist desire to insure and care for a majority of people (this comes before you start pus polling and scaring seniors with lies about Medicare coverage)."
• "I started her treatment a month back , I also continue with my insulin, she gave me a greenish herbal powder , that has to sorted into daily dosages twice before meals, along with a tablet Triglucord Forte ..before I visited her I took my blood sugar levels .."
• "My memory does not serve me so as to enable me to state, whether the Acdazeer's visit to Java was before or after the promulgation of the law prohibiting ships with opium and warlike stores entering any of the ports of Netherlands India; but I think it was _before_ that regulation was made public."