prior
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：
It is important to enrich the soil prior to planting.
在种植前给土壤增肥很重要。
We recommend that you resolve all errors and warnings prior to testing the SSL configuration.
我们建议您在测试SSL配置之前解决所有错误和警告。
For the prior year, they reported net income of$ 1.1 million.
他们公布上一年度纯收入为110万美元。
The groups tend to overcompensate by creating contracts and specifications prior to designing, developing, and integrating code.
组织倾向于过度在创建合同和规格上工作，而不是在设计、开发和集成上。
They all raised the question as if by prior agreement.
他们都不约而同地提出了这个问题。
He knew about the interview prior to its publication and had actually previewed the piece
这篇访谈在发表以前他就已经知道了，并且实际上还预先阅览过。