1 (previous) previo I have a prior engagement tengo un compromiso previo
he claimed he had no prior knowledge of it BR employees are forbidden from talking to the press without prior permission no prior knowledge is required prior arrangements had to be made others have succeeded in the computer industry with no prior experience the Constitution requires the president to seek the prior approval of Congress for military action the firm I wanted to use had prior commitments he feels a prior obligation to his job as a journalist
to have a prior claim to or on sth/sb there are others who have a prior claim on my time hay otros a los que tengo que dedicar mi tiempo que tienen prioridad or están antes; she felt that her past connection with him gave her a prior claim to him le parecía que su pasada relación le daba ciertos derechos sobre él
he's a very good player but, when it came to selecting the side, other names had prior claims your position gives you a prior claim to certain assets of the company to [give] sb prior notice tenants must be given prior notice before they get evicted from public housing you could at least have given him prior notice that you weren't going to be there [without] prior notice guests who drop in without prior notice they could advise and criticize but /they had no powers of prior restraint on the content of the film/ /no prior restraint of programming should be attempted/, such as that proposed through the Broadcasting Standards Council there was a serious risk of prior restraint through injunctions or subsequent judicial review
without prior notice/warning sin previo aviso they exploded the device without prior warning he received a redundancy notice through the post without prior warning
2 (earlier) [+week, month, year] anterior for the prior year, they reported net income of 1.1m dollars
in prior years en años anteriores
undergraduates, who, in prior years, might have considered academic careers