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
Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024
This upheaval is something millennials will be familiar with—many of them were early in their careers when the financial crisis of 2008 hit.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 9 Apr. 2024
In Denmark the drinking culture is heavy, and the next step is to experiment with drugs from an early age.
—Annika Pham, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024
Scientists began to understand why in the early 1900s.
—Jon Hamilton, NPR, 9 Apr. 2024
Sadio Mané did score for Al-Nassr following Ronaldo’s departure, but earlier goals from Salem Al-Dawsari and Malcom gave Al-Hilal a 2-1 victory.
—George Ramsay, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
Branson’s fortune peaked at almost $8 billion in early 2021 as record-low interest rates fueled a pandemic bull market.
—Ben Stupples, Fortune Europe, 9 Apr. 2024
Since the early 1900s, the brand has proven itself as a premier developer of stopwatches and dashboard timers for prestigious institutions like the Olympic Games and Ferrari.
—Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 9 Apr. 2024
Nguyen says that in early meetings, producers were uneasy about his insistence that the show center Vietnamese people speaking Vietnamese.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 9 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
Federal judges have begun ordering the early release pending appeal of Jan. 6 defendants who challenged their sentences even though the Supreme Court is a week away from hearing arguments on whether a key charge brought against them is legally sound.
—Spencer S. Hsu, Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2024
This upheaval is something millennials will be familiar with—many of them were early in their careers when the financial crisis of 2008 hit.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 9 Apr. 2024
In Denmark the drinking culture is heavy, and the next step is to experiment with drugs from an early age.
—Annika Pham, Variety, 9 Apr. 2024
Scientists began to understand why in the early 1900s.
—Jon Hamilton, NPR, 9 Apr. 2024
Sadio Mané did score for Al-Nassr following Ronaldo’s departure, but earlier goals from Salem Al-Dawsari and Malcom gave Al-Hilal a 2-1 victory.
—George Ramsay, CNN, 9 Apr. 2024
Branson’s fortune peaked at almost $8 billion in early 2021 as record-low interest rates fueled a pandemic bull market.
—Ben Stupples, Fortune Europe, 9 Apr. 2024
Since the early 1900s, the brand has proven itself as a premier developer of stopwatches and dashboard timers for prestigious institutions like the Olympic Games and Ferrari.
—Allen Farmelo, Robb Report, 9 Apr. 2024
Nguyen says that in early meetings, producers were uneasy about his insistence that the show center Vietnamese people speaking Vietnamese.
—Andrew R. Chow, TIME, 9 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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