How to Use previous to in a Sentence

previous to

preposition
Definition of previous tonext
Synonyms for previous tonext
  • So far, all four of the dogs that the group of men have fostered previous to Apollo have been adopted and not returned to the rescue.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Feb. 2023
  • In the 24 years previous to his arrival, there were just two winning seasons.
    — Stefan Krajisnik, The Indianapolis Star, 20 Mar. 2021
  • It should be noted, however, many of the comments were made previous to the news of Saban being out.
    — Mark Heim | Mheim@al.com, al, 27 Nov. 2020
  • Arkansas made its choice previous to that based upon the trigger law.
    — NBC News, 26 June 2022
  • During that close passage, and the two previous to that, astronomers peered deep into the heart of the Homunculus Nebula to find out about the stars that supply its blood.
    — Sarah Scoles, Discover Magazine, 12 Jan. 2015
  • The previous requirement was that negative results be dated in the 72 hours previous to the event date.
    — Paul Sisson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Dec. 2021
  • The campground also includes people who had been living in their vehicles, and a few houseless people who had been staying there previous to the city’s repurposing.
    — Emily Goodykoontz, Anchorage Daily News, 21 July 2022
  • The letters also include his nomination of Forster to the Nobel Committee just seven years previous to his letter to Ozick.
    — Alexander Chee, The New Republic, 21 Sep. 2021
  • There was no escalation, fight or attack previous to being attacked.
    — Charmaine Patterson, PEOPLE.com, 24 Mar. 2022
  • The bin, which Mayor Kim Thomas said was originally built to store milk previous to the city taking ownership many years ago, is unsafe for workers to enter and is now cordoned off with yellow tape to ensure no one ventures inside.
    — cleveland, 29 Oct. 2022
  • Now, scientists studying the teeth recently discovered that the animal’s teeth contain a type of mineral that, previous to this new finding, had only been identified in rocks.
    — Mike Wehner, BGR, 2 June 2021
  • Chrishell was a practicing agent at another brokerage, many years previous to filming Selling Sunset.
    — Robyn Merrett, PEOPLE.com, 26 Aug. 2020
  • The communications were uncovered in discovery previous to the Twitter trial.
    — Nicholas Gordon, Fortune, 5 Oct. 2022
  • Many in the group had become increasingly frustrated with China’s authoritarian controls and diminishing opportunities but, previous to the protests, hadn’t spoken out publicly on politics.
    — Shen Lu and Liyan Qi, WSJ, 25 Jan. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'previous to.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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