previous
单词辨析：
指在当下所提及的事件、时间等之前发生或存在的，通常作定语。
She has a child from a previous marriage.
她前一次婚姻有一个孩子。
He discovered that he had met his new colleague before on three previous occasions.
他发现他以前见过他的新同事3次。
指事物在讲述、文章等中刚刚提到的，常作定语。
the foregoing examples
上述例证
The foregoing conclusion is based on the following data.
上述结论是根据以下数据得出的。
指曾有过某种职务或地位的，也可指发生或存在于过去的。
He has a great interest in books about the former president.
他对和那位前总统有关的书十分感兴趣。
His income has been reduced to half its former amount due to the economic depression.
由于经济萧条，他的收入已减少到以前的一半。
指在所提时间、地点或部分之前发生或出现的。
The examples in the preceding chapter are used again later.
上一章的例子后面又再次被使用。
Their plan of seeing a movie together on Friday failed because they had a quarrel on the preceding day.
他们周五一起看电影的计划泡汤了，因为他们在前一天吵了一架。
较正式用词，多指先于另一事物或某一时间前存在或安排的。
The discussion requires prior knowledge of the subject.
本次讨论要求事先了解该主题的相关知识。
No employee can be recruited without the prior approval of the manager.
事先未征得经理的同意不可以招收任何员工。
相关例句：
He was over a second faster than his previous best time
他比自己以前的最好成绩快了1秒多。
Unemployment benefits are directly related to previous earnings.
失业救济金的额度与以前的收入有直接关系。
The next day we reviewed the previous day's work.
第二天，我们仔细检查了头一天的工作。
He has no previous convictions.
他没有前科。
He had even locked away all the videos of his previous exploits.
他甚至将记录他以前伟绩的录像带通通锁起来了。
There are no previous statistics for comparison.
没有以往的统计数据可供比较。