pre ‧ vi ‧ ous S1 W1 AC /ˈpriːviəs/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Word Family: adverb : ↑ previously ; adjective : ↑ previous ]
[ Date: 1600-1700 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: praevius 'leading the way' , from via 'way' ]
1 . [only before noun] having happened or existed before the event, time, or thing that you are talking about now:
I’ve met him before on two previous occasions.
She has two children from a previous marriage.
Do you have any previous experience of this type of work?
The lawyer told the judge that Kennedy had no previous convictions.
2 . the previous day/chapter/owner etc the one that came immediately before the one you are talking about now:
I had met them the previous day.
as we said in the previous chapter
The trees had been planted by the previous owner.
3 . previous to something formal before a particular time or event:
There were almost no women MPs previous to 1945.
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THESAURUS
▪ previous [only before noun] used when talking about a person, thing, time etc before the one that you are talking about now:
The car’s previous owner didn’t take very good care of it.
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Please ignore my previous instructions.
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The temperature is higher than in previous years.
▪ last [only before noun] used when talking about the one that you had just before now, or the one that existed just before now:
The last apartment we lived in was much smaller than this one.
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Ben’s last girlfriend was a teacher.
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Beth broke up with her last boyfriend because he drank too much.
▪ old [only before noun] used when talking about people you knew or things you had in the past, or about things that existed in the past and have been replaced by newer things:
I never liked my old boss.
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I saw Phil with one of my old girlfriends.
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The new stadium is much bigger than the old one.
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He was my old maths teacher.
▪ preceding [only before noun] formal coming just before the time or thing you have just mentioned, or before the part of a book where you are now:
There were fewer crimes compared to the preceding year.
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The author dealt with this subject in the preceding chapters of the book.
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In the preceding section of the poem, Whitman is talking about how important it is to live in the present.
▪ former [only before noun] formal used to describe someone or something that used to have a particular job or position but does not any more:
her former husband
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the former US President
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Kyoto was the former capital of Japan.
▪ ex-wife/boyfriend/soldier etc someone who used to be someone’s wife, used to be a soldier etc, but is not any more:
Her dad’s an ex-policeman.
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Lydia is still friends with her ex-husband.
▪ the one before the person or thing that existed before the one you have just mentioned:
I didn’t enjoy Spielberg’s last film but I thought the one before was all right.
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Each year, the convention is a little larger than the one before.