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[ UK /fˈɔːmɐ/ ]
[ US /ˈfɔɹmɝ/ ]
ADJECTIVE
  1. belonging to some prior time
    the once capital of the state
    her quondam lover
    our former glory
    erstwhile friend
  2. referring to the first of two things or persons mentioned (or the earlier one or ones of several)
    the novel was made into a film in 1943 and again in 1967; I prefer the former version to the latter one
  3. (used especially of persons) of the immediate past
    the former president
    the previous occupant of the White House
    our late President is still very active
  4. belonging to the distant past
    former generations
    the early inhabitants of Europe
    in other times
NOUN
  1. the first of two or the first mentioned of two
    Tom and Dick were both heroes but only the former is remembered today

How To Use former In A Sentence

  • Their dried dung is found everywhere, and is in many places the only fuel afforded by the plains; their skulls, which last longer than any other part of the animal, are among the most familiar of objects to the plainsman; their bones are in many districts so plentiful that it has become a regular industry, followed by hundreds of men (christened "bone hunters" by the frontiersmen), to go out with wagons and collect them in great numbers for the sake of the phosphates they yield; and Bad Lands, plateaus, and prairies alike, are cut up in all directions by the deep ruts which were formerly buffalo trails. VIII. The Lordly Buffalo
  • Band leader, Ray Blue, is also a composer, arranger and performer on tenor, alto and soprano saxophones.
  • McCarthy remains dismissive of the allegations and defensive of the former sergeant, saying he was "brutalized" by his colleagues, in particular, by a few senior officers "exerting locker room peer pressure" in the department ranks. MPNnow Home RSS
  • Outrages like the Thomas case make it a good deal more difficult for enlightened penal reformers like the Professor to get a fair hearing when they advocate bringing back the lash.
  • It will be given a tender from another departed locomotive and regain its former Sierra appearance.
  • As he rose in society, his romantic entanglements damaged his career and he returned to his former sweetheart in Ireland. Times, Sunday Times
  • Former Rep. Steve Pearce (R) is running to re-claim his old seat. House Democrats reserve $49 million in ad time
  • Thrice a day, the performers have been taking to the stage under the massive fireproof tents, which can accommodate up to 2,500 viewers.
  • There had been formerly on the pathways of Dardilly calvaries built by pious forebears; destroyed on order of the revolutionary proconsul of Lyon, the famous Fouché, the crosses lay in the grass. Archive 2008-03-09
  • Ingundis; and Leovigild, whose two sons, Hermenegild and Recared, were the issue of a former marriage.] [Footnote 128: Iracundiae furore succensa, adprehensam per comam capitis puellam in terram conlidit, et diu calcibus verberatam, ac sanguins cruentatam, jussit exspoliari, et piscinae immergi. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 3
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