"precede" in the verb sense
1. predate, precede, forego, forgo, antecede, antedate
be earlier in time go back further
"Stone tools precede bronze tools"
2. precede, predate
come before
"Most English adjectives precede the noun they modify"
3. precede, come before
be the predecessor of
"Bill preceded John in the long line of Susan's husbands"
4. precede, lead
move ahead (of others) in time or space
5. precede, preface, premise, introduce
furnish with a preface or introduction
"She always precedes her lectures with a joke"
"He prefaced his lecture with a critical remark about the institution"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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