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Verb: predate  ,pree'deyt
  1. Come before
    "Most English adjectives predate the noun they modify";
    - precede
     
  2. Be earlier in time; go back further
    "Stone tools predate bronze tools";
    - precede, forego, antecede, antedate
     
  3. Establish something as being earlier relative to something else
    "The archaeologist predated the artifacts to the Bronze Age";
    - antedate, foredate
Verb: predate[2]  pri'deyt
  1. Hunt for as food
    "These mammals predate certain eggs"; "Lions predate[2] on zebras and wildebeest";
    - raven [archaic], prey

Derived forms: predated, predates, predating

Type of: chronologise [Brit], chronologize, come before, forage, lie, precede

Encyclopedia: Predate