INDEX:
1. before the usual or expected time
2. too early
3. early in the morning
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ LATE
see also
↑ BEFORE
↑ BEGINNING
↑ FIRST
↑ SOON
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1. before the usual or expected time
▷ early /ˈɜːʳli/ [adjective/adverb]
if something happens early, it happens before the usual time or the most suitable time; if someone is early, they arrive before the time they are expected to :
▪ I finished work early today.
▪ If you plant the seeds too early they won’t grow.
▪ After an early lunch, we started the meeting at one o'clock.
▪ Everyone was deeply shocked by his early death at the age of forty-five.
be early (for something)
arrive early
▪ You’re early - I wasn’t expecting you till seven.
▪ I’m sorry, I’m a bit early for my appointment.
seven months/three days etc early
seven months/three days etc earlier than expected
▪ Our first child was born eight weeks early.
▷ ahead of time /əˌhed əv ˈtaɪm/ [adverb]
earlier than the time when you have arranged or expect to do something :
▪ We will try to complete the building ahead of time.
▪ Visas must be obtained ahead of time, and it may take several weeks to get them in order.
▪ You can always prepare the salad ahead of time and refrigerate it.
▷ ahead of schedule /əˌhed əv ˈʃedʒuːlǁ-ˈskedjʊl/ [adverb]
earlier than the officially agreed time :
▪ Due to the economy’s strong recovery, Mexico will repay ahead of schedule the last installment of a $13.5 billion loan.
six months/two weeks/a year etc ahead of schedule
▪ The renovation of the school has just been completed three months ahead of schedule.
▷ in good time /ɪn ˌgʊd ˈtaɪm/ [adverb]
early enough, so that you do not have to rush, or so that you have time to get ready :
▪ I like to get all my Christmas presents bought and sent in good time.
in good time for
▪ It is important to arrive in good time for your interview.
▷ with time to spare /wɪð ˌtaɪm tə ˈspeəʳ/ [adverb]
if you arrive somewhere or finish something with time to spare, you arrive or finish before the time when you have to arrive or finish :
▪ In spite of the bad traffic, we reached London with plenty of time to spare.
with ten minutes/half an hour etc to spare
▪ I finished the test with just two minutes to spare two minutes before the end .
2. too early
▷ too early /tuː ˈɜːʳli/ [adverb]
▪ Too much success too early can cause you to grow overconfident.
too early to do something
▪ It’s still too early to tell if the treatment is going to be effective.
too early for
▪ There aren’t any raspberries in the stores yet. It’s too early for them.
far/way too early
much too early
▪ We arrived far too early and had to wait outside for an hour.
▷ too soon /tuː ˈsuːn/ [adverb]
happening too early after something else, or doing something much earlier than you should :
▪ I don’t think you should go back to work too soon after having the baby.
too soon to do something
▪ It’s too soon to say what effect the merger will have on the company’s 1500 employees
too soon for
▪ I knew it was too soon for any likely resolution of the problem.
far/way too soon
much too soon
▪ You can’t get married next week! That’s far too soon.
▪ Lendl hit the ball way too soon.
▷ untimely /ʌnˈtaɪmli/ [adjective usually before noun] written
untimely death/end
much earlier than usual or expected, so that people are surprised by it :
▪ Before his untimely death in 1991, Freddie Mercury was a brilliant singer and performer.
meet an untimely end
die early
▪ His grandfather had met an untimely end as the result of too much whisky.
▷ premature /ˈpremətʃəʳ, -tʃʊəʳ, ˌpreməˈtʃʊəʳǁˌpriːməˈtʃʊər◂/ [adjective]
happening before the normal or natural time :
premature death/birth/ageing
▪ Alcoholism is one of the major causes of premature death.
▪ It has been proved that sunbathing causes premature ageing of the skin.
premature baby
a baby that is born before the normal time
▪ Her baby was premature and weighed only 2kg.
prematurely [adverb]
▪ Hannah’s hair went prematurely grey when she was only 24.
▷ jump the gun /ˌdʒʌmp ðə ˈgʌn/ [verb phrase] informal
to do or say something too early, before you know what is going to happen next, so that you risk making a mistake :
▪ I think it would be jumping the gun to sign the agreement at this stage.
▪ Surely it’s jumping the gun to buy the ring before you’ve even asked her to marry you?
▷ it’s early days /ɪts ˌɜːʳli ˈdeɪz/ British
if you say it’s early days, you mean that it is still too early in a process or event to know what will happen :
▪ It’s still early days, but all the signs are that the operation has been a success.
it’s early days yet
▪ ‘It looks like Liverpool are going to win the championship.’ ‘Oh I don’t know. It’s early days yet.’
3. early in the morning
▷ early /ˈɜːʳli/ [adjective/adverb]
early in the morning :
▪ I always wake up early when the weather’s warm.
▪ Early the next day, Jamie received a call from his mother.
make an early start
start an activity or journey early in the morning
▪ If we make an early start we should avoid the worst of the traffic.
in the early hours
during the first hours of the day, when most people are asleep
▪ The robbery took place in the early hours of Sunday morning.
early bird
someone who gets up early in the morning
▪ Jack was always an early bird; he did a lot of his work before dawn.
▷ first thing /ˌfɜːʳst ˈθɪŋ/ [adverb] especially spoken
if you do something first thing, you do it immediately after you get up or as soon as you start work :
▪ I’ll telephone her first thing, I promise.
first thing tomorrow/Wednesday/in the morning etc
▪ Leave it on my desk and I’ll deal with it first thing tomorrow.
▷ at the crack of dawn /ət ðə ˌkræk əv ˈdɔːn/ [adverb] informal
use this to emphasize that something happens very early in the morning, when most people are still in bed :
▪ My Dad used to get up at the crack of dawn every Sunday to go fishing.
▷ bright and early /ˌbraɪt ənd ˈɜːʳli/ [adverb]
if you get up bright and early, you get up very early in the morning, especially because there is something that you want to do :
▪ Geoffrey was up bright and early on Saturday morning, and had everything packed before breakfast.
▪ Waking bright and early, I went for a swim and took the dog for a walk.