before dinner
45
1.0
- adverb
- I'm going to have a little nap before dinner.
- a drink before dinner
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Watch on YouTubeAnd we had this like an hour to kill before dinner.
- And we had this like an hour to kill before dinner.
- The table is almost ready to a point where I think I could get it done before dinner.
- If you do cold plunging, let's say right before dinner or right after, it can disturb your digestion somewhat, OK.
Examples
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If we have time before dinner, maybe we could go?
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When I got back, it was still a good while before dinner.
Fiction book (1993) -
So, do we think that we can finish this before dinner?
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If you come now, I can sort you out before dinner.
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I hope you get this message before dinner.
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Yeah, we got a little business to take care of before dinner.
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Would you like a drink before dinner, sir?
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I'll pick you up tonight, just before dinner, okay?
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In the drawing room before dinner, Miss Craddock asked Julian for news of the investigation.
Fiction book (1993) -
Would you like a drink before dinner, sir?
Synonyms
96
2.7
Earlier than a planned time or event
1
9.9
Before a meal, especially dinner
1
3.2
Just before dinner
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'at a time earlier than the evening meal' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'before' (previously) with 'dinner' (the meal); the temporal relation is compositional and literal. This prepositional time expression follows a common pattern cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.
Etymology
Before dinner comes from everyday meal routines, where the evening meal was a clear time marker and things done just earlier were said to happen before dinner. So it now simply means 'at a time earlier than the evening meal'.