earlier; earliest
1
a
: near the beginning of a period of time
awoke early in the morning
b
: near the beginning of a course, process, or series
early in his senatorial career
2
a
: before the usual or expected time
the train arrived early
b
archaic
: soon
c
: sooner than related forms
these apples bear early
earlier; earliest
1
a
: of, relating to, or occurring near the beginning of a period of time, a development, or a series
in the early evening
the early symptoms of the disease
b(1)
: distant in past time
(2)
: primitive
early tools
2
a
: occurring before the usual or expected time
an early arrival
b
: occurring in the near future
at your earliest convenience
c
: maturing or producing sooner than related forms
an early peach
earliness
noun
Synonyms
Examples of early in a Sentence
Adverb
Early in his career he moved to the city.
a word first recorded early in the 17th century
They were trailing by a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
The package should be arriving early next week.
She arrived early to help with the preparations.
I got up early to finish packing.
Adjective
the early symptoms of the disease
The early part of the book is better than the later part.
We had an early spring this year.
We're early. The show doesn't start for half an hour.
I've always been an early riser.
Recent Examples on the Web
Detroit Free Press, 20 Apr. 2024
One of Smith’s linemates, Washington Capitals prospect Ryan Leonard, decided earlier this week to return to school for another season.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 20 Apr. 2024
The legislation passed Saturday gives ByteDance nearly a year to divest itself of the social media platform, with 90 of those days subject to a presidential waiver — longer than the six-month time frame in a version of the legislation the House passed earlier this year.
—Steven T. Dennis, Fortune, 20 Apr. 2024
Because any one senator can prevent leadership from speeding up the process of considering legislation, the Senate slogged through much of the time necessary to pass the bill in the upper chamber and finally passed it early Saturday morning.
—USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
The Smokehouse Creek Fire in Hutchinson County burned for nearly three weeks earlier this year, killing two people and torching over 1 million acres.
—Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Apr. 2024
Foster had unveiled the matchups with great fanfare to his players earlier in the day, their headshots superimposed on those of warriors.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2024
After hinting at her undisclosed health issues by wearing a T-shirt printed with the words ‘Tummy Troubles Survivor’ earlier this week, the actress, 50, shared a video of herself playing with a dog in the gym on April 18.
—Kirsty Hatcher, Peoplemag, 19 Apr. 2024
Cleveland Cleveland will have lots of clouds early in the day.
—Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2024
Chris Willman, Variety, 22 Apr. 2024
In the 1960s and early 1970s, a show-business era dominated by men, that was a trailblazing approach by the Detroit company — and de Passe ultimately forged her own path with ambition, creativity and foresight.
—Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press, 22 Apr. 2024
Spin Doctors – Turn It Upside Down Spin Doctors were part of the new generation of rising jam bands in the early ‘90s, releasing multiple live albums and co-headlining the first H.O.R.D.E. tour with Blues Traveler and Phish.
—Al Shipley, SPIN, 21 Apr. 2024
The idea really entered the public consciousness in early 2013, when Deadspin reported on a scandal surrounding the Notre Dame football star Manti Te’o.
—Maya Salam Maya Salam, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2024
The catchy track logged four weeks at the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1997, and is one of the group’s nine U.K. No. 1 singles.
—Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 21 Apr. 2024
Residents told The Post they were awakened by an arc flash and strong winds in the early hours of Aug. 8.
—Brianna Sacks and Anumita Kaur The Washington Post, arkansasonline.com, 21 Apr. 2024
Barely missing its midnight deadline, the Senate voted early Saturday to reauthorize a key U.S. surveillance law after divisions over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans’ data nearly forced the statute to lapse.
—Farnoush Amiri, Fortune, 20 Apr. 2024
Even to his two sons in their 20’s, Rahr reiterates to them how important early detection is.
—Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Apr. 2024
Adverb
The vote comes after what was said to be a supermajority of Mercedes-Benz employees at the plants filed a petition earlier this month with the board's Region 10 office in Atlanta seeking to represent about 5,200 production workers.
—Detroit Free Press, 20 Apr. 2024
One of Smith’s linemates, Washington Capitals prospect Ryan Leonard, decided earlier this week to return to school for another season.
—Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 20 Apr. 2024
The legislation passed Saturday gives ByteDance nearly a year to divest itself of the social media platform, with 90 of those days subject to a presidential waiver — longer than the six-month time frame in a version of the legislation the House passed earlier this year.
—Steven T. Dennis, Fortune, 20 Apr. 2024
Because any one senator can prevent leadership from speeding up the process of considering legislation, the Senate slogged through much of the time necessary to pass the bill in the upper chamber and finally passed it early Saturday morning.
—USA TODAY, 20 Apr. 2024
The Smokehouse Creek Fire in Hutchinson County burned for nearly three weeks earlier this year, killing two people and torching over 1 million acres.
—Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Apr. 2024
Foster had unveiled the matchups with great fanfare to his players earlier in the day, their headshots superimposed on those of warriors.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2024
After hinting at her undisclosed health issues by wearing a T-shirt printed with the words ‘Tummy Troubles Survivor’ earlier this week, the actress, 50, shared a video of herself playing with a dog in the gym on April 18.
—Kirsty Hatcher, Peoplemag, 19 Apr. 2024
Cleveland Cleveland will have lots of clouds early in the day.
—Emily Shapiro, ABC News, 8 Apr. 2024
Adjective
Performing on his own, Browne told the audience about his discovery of Staples at a key early point in his life.
—Chris Willman, Variety, 22 Apr. 2024
In the 1960s and early 1970s, a show-business era dominated by men, that was a trailblazing approach by the Detroit company — and de Passe ultimately forged her own path with ambition, creativity and foresight.
—Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press, 22 Apr. 2024
Spin Doctors – Turn It Upside Down Spin Doctors were part of the new generation of rising jam bands in the early ‘90s, releasing multiple live albums and co-headlining the first H.O.R.D.E. tour with Blues Traveler and Phish.
—Al Shipley, SPIN, 21 Apr. 2024
The idea really entered the public consciousness in early 2013, when Deadspin reported on a scandal surrounding the Notre Dame football star Manti Te’o.
—Maya Salam Maya Salam, New York Times, 21 Apr. 2024
The catchy track logged four weeks at the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1997, and is one of the group’s nine U.K. No. 1 singles.
—Mitchell Peters, Billboard, 21 Apr. 2024
Residents told The Post they were awakened by an arc flash and strong winds in the early hours of Aug. 8.
—Brianna Sacks and Anumita Kaur The Washington Post, arkansasonline.com, 21 Apr. 2024
Barely missing its midnight deadline, the Senate voted early Saturday to reauthorize a key U.S. surveillance law after divisions over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans’ data nearly forced the statute to lapse.
—Farnoush Amiri, Fortune, 20 Apr. 2024
Even to his two sons in their 20’s, Rahr reiterates to them how important early detection is.
—Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'early.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near early
Cite this Entry
“Early.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/early. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
early
1 of 2 adverb
ear·ly
ˈər-lē 
earlier; earliest
1
: near the beginning of a period of time or of a process or series
woke up early
2
: before the usual or expected time
arrived early
early
2 of 2 adjective
earlier; earliest
1
a
: of, relating to, or occurring near the beginning of a period of time, a development, or a series
in the early evening
b
: primitive
early art forms
2
a
: occurring before the usual or expected time
had an early winter
b
: maturing or producing sooner than related forms
an early peach
earliness
noun
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