precede

pre·cede

verb \pri-ˈsēd\

pre·ced·edpre·ced·ing

Definition of PRECEDE

transitive verb

1

: to surpass in rank, dignity, or importance

2

: to be, go, or come ahead or in front of

3

: to be earlier than

4

: to cause to be preceded : preface

intransitive verb

: to go or come before

Examples of PRECEDE

1. Riots preceded the civil war.
2. She preceded him into the room.
3. The country became more conservative in the years that preceded his election.
4. The new mayor is very different from the person who preceded her in office.
5. The meeting was preceded by a brief welcoming speech.
6. The chairman preceded the meeting with a brief welcoming speech.
7. Minutes before 10:30 p.m. in China, the stadium pulsed with the emotions that always precede a 100-meter final. —Tim Layden, Sports Illustrated, 25 Aug. 2008
8. But research has now shown that so-called responses to rhythm actually precede the external beat. We anticipate the beat … —Oliver Sacks, Musicophilia, 2007
9. The print media ape the manners of television, and on television form precedes content, emotion replaces thought, legend substitutes for history, fiction dictates to fact. —Lewis H. Lapham, Harper's, September 1998

Origin of PRECEDE

Middle English, from Middle French preceder, from Latin praecedere, from prae- pre- + cedere to go

First Known Use: 15th century

Related to PRECEDE

Synonyms

antecede, antedate, forego, predate, preexist

Antonyms

follow, postdate, succeed

Rhymes with PRECEDE

accede, airspeed, bindweed, birdseed, blueweed, bourride, breast-feed, bur reed, burweed, cheerlead, chickweed, concede, crossbreed, cudweed, debride, degreed, duckweed, exceed, fairlead, fern seed, fireweed, flaxseed, force-feed, free reed, Godspeed, ground speed, gulfweed, half-breed, hand-feed, hawkweed, hayseed, high-speed, horseweed, impede, implead, inbreed, indeed, ironweed, Jamshid, jetbead, knapweed, knotweed, linseed, lip-read, milkweed, misdeed, mislead, misread, moonseed, nosebleed, off-speed, oilseed, pigweed, pinweed, pokeweed, pondweed, proceed, proofread, ragweed, rapeseed, recede, reseed, rockweed, seaweed, secede, self-feed, Siegfried, sight-read, silkweed, smartweed, snakeweed, sneezeweed, speed-read, spoon-feed, stall-feed, stampede, stickseed, stickweed, stinkweed, succeed, ten-speed, tickseed, warp speed, weak-kneed, witchweed, wormseed