0 near the beginning of a period of time, or before the usual, expected, or planned time: --
I'm very busy, so I won't be with you till four o'clock at the earliest.
Here's a dish I prepared earlier (= I made a short time ago).
My earliest (= first) memory is of being shown around our new house.
Henry Ford was a pioneer during the early days/years of car manufacture.
I'm going to have an early night (= go to sleep before my usual time).
I like being a little early for interviews.
1 near the beginning of (a period of time), or before the usual, expected, or planned time: --
It was a great race for Needles, who took the lead early on (= soon after the start).
Here’s a dish I prepared earlier (= I made a short time ago).
Detroit has been an automotive center since the early days/years (= the beginning time) of car manufacturing.
If you finish early (= before the end of the allowed time) you can go home.
Sheena’s in her early thirties.
2 used to ask someone to do something, or to say that you will do something as soon as possible: --
Please give me a call back at your earliest convenience on extension one two four seven.
Thus, both the year offsets and two scribal errors suggest the existence of an earlier document.
With the techniques of the earlier sections, we are able to solve these initial boundary value problems explicitly.
When such members lost, they were much less likely to lose to another non-conformist in the 1980s and 1990s than in earlier decades.
The bidder had made the same bid in an earlier round.
Many of our semantic techniques originate in earlier studies of the -calculus.
We also provide a detailed comparison of our results with those in the earlier literature that studies the dynamics of the home sector.
We lack the quantitative data from earlier par ts of the 20th century that would conclusively suppor t the diachronic account just outlined.
In the earliest dances various metres and forms are employed.
