2early adjective
earlier; earliest 1 a : existing or happening near the beginning of a period of time
▪ early morning ▪ the early 20th century ▪ He is in his early thirties. [=he is about 31 or 32 years old] ▪ She works the early shift. [=the shift that is in the early part of the day] ▪ It was still early (in the morning) when she got out of bed. — opposite late
b always used before a noun : happening near the beginning of a process, activity, series, etc.
▪ the early symptoms of the disease ▪ the composer's early works [=works created at the beginning of the composer's career] ▪ The early part of the book is better than the later part. 2 a : coming or happening before the usual or expected time
▪ We had an early spring this year. ▪ an early bedtime ▪ We're early. The show doesn't start for half an hour. — opposite late
b : doing something before the usual time or before others usually do
▪ I've always been an early riser. ▪ My daughter was an early reader. [=she learned to read at a young age] ◊The expression the early bird catches/gets the worm means that people who start or arrive before others are more likely to succeed. — opposite late
▪ early morning ▪ the early 20th century ▪ He is in his early thirties. [=he is about 31 or 32 years old] ▪ She works the early shift. [=the shift that is in the early part of the day] ▪ It was still early (in the morning) when she got out of bed. — opposite late
b always used before a noun : happening near the beginning of a process, activity, series, etc.
▪ the early symptoms of the disease ▪ the composer's early works [=works created at the beginning of the composer's career] ▪ The early part of the book is better than the later part.
▪ We had an early spring this year. ▪ an early bedtime ▪ We're early. The show doesn't start for half an hour. — opposite late
b : doing something before the usual time or before others usually do
▪ I've always been an early riser. ▪ My daughter was an early reader. [=she learned to read at a young age] ◊The expression the early bird catches/gets the worm means that people who start or arrive before others are more likely to succeed. — opposite late
early days (yet)
Brit — used to say that it is too soon to know how something will turn out ▪ Things haven't gone well so far, but it's early days yet.
early hours — see hour
get/make an early start
: to get started on a journey, activity, etc., early in the day
▪ We want to make an early start tomorrow.
▪ We want to make an early start tomorrow.
make an early night of it
: to go home or go to bed early
▪ They decided to make an early night of it.
▪ They decided to make an early night of it.
