'fore

See also: fore, Fore, fóre, foré, forè, fôre, före, főre, fore-, and føre

English

Etymology

Aphetic form of before.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /fɔː/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /fɔɹ/
• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)
• Homophones: fore, four, for (in accents with the horse–hoarse merger)

Preposition

'fore

1. (chiefly African-American Vernacular) before
   • 1996, Nas (lyrics and music), “The Message”, in It Was Written‎^[1]:

     Heard shots and dropped, son, caught a hot one
     Somebody take this biscuit 'fore the cops come

   • 2014, J. Cole (lyrics and music), “No Role Modelz”, in 2014 Forest Hills Drive‎^[2]:

     I got defensive and said, "Nah, I was the same without it"
     But then I thought back, back to a better me
     Before I was a B-list celebrity
     'Fore I started callin' bitches "bitches" so heavily

Further reading

• “'fore”, in Urban Dictionary, launched 1999.