Library / English Dictionary

FOREGO

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: foregone    , forewent   

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lose (s.th.) or lose the right to (s.th.) by some error, offense, or crime

Example:

forfeited property

Synonyms:

forego; forfeit; forgo; give up; throw overboard; waive

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "forego" is one way to...):

abandon (forsake, leave behind)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "forego"):

lapse (let slip)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Do without or cease to hold or adhere to

Example:

relinquish the old ideas

Synonyms:

dispense with; forego; foreswear; forgo; relinquish; waive

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "forego"):

give up; kick (stop consuming)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be earlier in time; go back further

Example:

Stone tools precede bronze tools

Synonyms:

antecede; antedate; forego; forgo; precede; predate

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

Lady Russell, convinced that Anne would not be allowed to be of any use, or any importance, in the choice of the house which they were going to secure, was very unwilling to have her hurried away so soon, and wanted to make it possible for her to stay behind till she might convey her to Bath herself after Christmas; but having engagements of her own which must take her from Kellynch for several weeks, she was unable to give the full invitation she wished, and Anne though dreading the possible heats of September in all the white glare of Bath, and grieving to forego all the influence so sweet and so sad of the autumnal months in the country, did not think that, everything considered, she wished to remain.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

I therefore pleaded another engagement; and observing that Mrs. Micawber's spirits were immediately lightened, I resisted all persuasion to forego it.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He could not immediately forego his wild heritage and his memories of the Wild.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Wolf Larsen looked curiously at him, as though about to probe and vivisect him, then changed his mind, as from the foregone conclusion that there was nothing there to probe.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He had learned well the law of club and fang, and he never forewent an advantage or drew back from a foe he had started on the way to Death.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

She was faithful to her word; and when Willoughby called at the cottage, the same day, Elinor heard her express her disappointment to him in a low voice, on being obliged to forego the acceptance of his present.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

It may hereafter be in my power, or in yours (I hope it will), to procure him better preferment; but it must not be forgotten that no benefit of that sort would have been beyond his natural claims on us, and that nothing can, in fact, be an equivalent for the certain advantage which he is now obliged to forego through the urgency of your debts.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Were you to argue, object, and annoy me for a year, I could not forego the delicious pleasure of which I have caught a glimpse—that of repaying, in part, a mighty obligation, and winning to myself lifelong friends.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Mr. Spiker, after the receipt of such a confidence, naturally desired to favour his friend with a confidence of his own; therefore the foregoing dialogue was succeeded by another, in which it was Mr. Gulpidge's turn to be surprised, and that by another in which the surprise came round to Mr. Spiker's turn again, and so on, turn and turn about.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Meat, even meat itself, he would forego to be with his god, to receive a caress from him or to accompany him down into the town.

(White Fang, by Jack London)