Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To die before (another person).

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Decease before another.
  • To die before; precede in dying.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To die sooner than.
  • noun rare The death of one person or thing before another.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The death of one person or thing before another.
  • verb transitive To die sooner than.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb die before; die earlier than

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

pre- +‎ decease

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word predecease.

Examples

  • Because she has just lost the third of her four children to predecease her?

    Stanton Peele: War of the Beasts in the Animal Kingdom Stanton Peele 2011

  • I am the only surviving offspring and I am making the assumption that she will predecease me.

    With power of attorney for my mother, can I put some money from the sale of her house towards my own? Virginia Wallis 2010

  • This sense of loneliness was compounded by the fact that Twain had by then also buried two of his four children – a good deal of his reminiscence comes in response to moving little scraps of notes that his daughter Susy had prepared for a book about him, before she died; another daughter, Jean, would predecease him in the course of his narration.

    The Autobiography of Mark Twain – review Tim Adams 2010

  • My grandfather is among the millions of people who have dementia, and my grandmother was one of the many family caregivers who predecease their sick partners.

    Lynn Casteel Harper: The Spiritual Implications of Dementia Lynn Casteel Harper 2010

  • Should the husband predecease his wife, to allow his daughters to be provided for from his estate until they are betrothed or until they reach maturity.

    Marriage. 2009

  • The will further stated that were she to predecease him or be unable to fulfill the role of guardian, that he wished his children to be raised by his lifelong friend Diana Ross.

    What Becomes of Michael Jackson’s Children? Renee 2009

  • She appeared equally stoical until the prosecutor lit into her, charging that Tony essentially committed his alleged crimes for her - to make sure that should he predecease his mother, a distinct possibility when you're in your eighties yourself -- she wouldn't be left out of the will, which was Mrs. Astor's apparently fervent desire "There was no love lost between Mrs. Astor and Charlene," Ms. Loewy told the jury.

    Ralph Gardner Jr.: Inside the Astor Trial: The People vs. Anthony Marshall and Francis Morrissey 2009

  • But I am a little concerned about the timelines: if you predecease Fluffy or Spike, how can you be sure your executors will honor your wish?

    Archive 2009-01-18 Bas Bleu 2009

  • Should he predecease her, that she be provided for from his estate and be enabled to continue to reside in the marital home after his death as long as she remains a widow.

    Marriage. 2009

  • The husband is required to return these assets to the wife at the end of the marriage; should the woman be divorced or should the husband predecease the wife, these assets return to her and she is to be compensated for any damage caused to them.

    Marriage. 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.