What's the difference between past and prior?

Past


Definition:

  • (v.) Of or pertaining to a former time or state; neither present nor future; gone by; elapsed; ended; spent; as, past troubles; past offences.
  • (n.) A former time or state; a state of things gone by.
  • (prep.) Beyond, in position, or degree; further than; beyond the reach or influence of.
  • (prep.) Beyond, in time; after; as, past the hour.
  • (prep.) Above; exceeding; more than.
  • (adv.) By; beyond; as, he ran past.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) In this study of ten consecutive patients sustaining molten metal injuries to the lower extremity who were treated with excision and grafting, treatment with compression Unna paste boot was compared with that with conventional dressing.
  • (2) Anti-corruption campaigners have already trooped past the €18.9m mansion on Rue de La Baume, bought in 2007 in the name of two Bongo children, then 13 and 16, and other relatives, in what some call Paris's "ill-gotten gains" walking tour.
  • (3) In the past, the interpretation of the medical findings was hampered by a lack of knowledge of normal anatomy and genital flora in the nonabused prepubertal child.
  • (4) A diplomatic source said the killing appeared particularly unusual because of Farooq lack of recent political activity: "He was lying low in the past two years.
  • (5) Past imaging techniques shown in the courtroom have made the conventional rules of evidence more difficult because of the different informational content and format required for presentation of these data.
  • (6) In the past 6 years 26 patients underwent operation for recurrent duodenal ulcer after what was considered to be an "adequate" initial operation.
  • (7) Over the past decade the use of monoclonal antibodies has greatly advanced our knowledge of the biological properties and heterogeneity that exist within human tumours, and in particular in lung cancer.
  • (8) He had been extremely frustrated that indicators of economic recovery over the past few days had been drowned out by the clamour over the Labour leadership.
  • (9) We reviewed our experience with femorofemoral bypass during the past 10 years to define its role relative to other methods in the treatment of aortoiliac occlusive disease.
  • (10) Gallic wine sales in the UK have been tumbling for the past 20 years, but the news that France, once the largest exporter to these shores, has slipped behind Australia, the United States, Italy and now South Africa will have producers gnawing their knuckles in frustration.
  • (11) But not only did it post a larger loss than expected, Amazon also projected 7% to 18% revenue growth over the busiest shopping period of the year, a far cry from the 20%-plus pace that had convinced investors to overlook its persistent lack of profit in the past.
  • (12) I’m hopeful but I just can’t get over all my experiences in the past.
  • (13) Significant changes have occurred within the profession of pharmacy in the past few decades which have led to loss of function, social power and status.
  • (14) Eighty interposition mesocaval shunts, using a knitted Dacron large diameter prosthesis, have been performed during the past five and one-half years.
  • (15) Although they were praised in the last five years as the most efficient drugs against cancer and infectious diseases, no great success was clinically and experimentally reported in the past.
  • (16) Over the past 20 years the rag-and-bone trade has had a makeover.
  • (17) Cameron famously broke with the past, and highlighted his green credentials, by posing with huskies on a visit to Svalbard in the Norwegian Arctic in 2006.
  • (18) At first it looked as though the winger might have shown too much of the ball to the defence, yet he managed to gain a crucial last touch to nudge it past Phil Jones and into the path of Jerome, who slipped Chris Smalling’s attempt at a covering tackle and held off Michael Carrick’s challenge to place a shot past an exposed De Gea.
  • (19) They argue that the US, the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases per capita (China recently surpassed us in sheer volume), needs to lead the fight to limit carbon emissions, rather continuing to block global treaties as it has done in the past.
  • (20) Over the past decade, the quinolone antimicrobial class has enjoyed a renaissance with the emergence of the fluoroquinolone subclass.

Prior


Definition:

  • (a.) Preceding in the order of time; former; antecedent; anterior; previous; as, a prior discovery; prior obligation; -- used elliptically in cases like the following: he lived alone [in the time] prior to his marriage.
  • (a.) The superior of a priory, and next below an abbot in dignity.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Combination therapy was most effective in patients receiving HCTZ prior to enalapril.
  • (2) These results indicated that the PG determination was the most accurate predictor of fetal lung well-being prior to birth among the clinical tests so far reported.
  • (3) Prior to oral feeding, little or no ELA was detected in stools and endotoxinemia was ascertained in only six of 45 infants (13%).
  • (4) Release of 51Cr was apparently a function of immune thymus-derived lymphocytes (T cells) because it was abrogated by prior incubation of spleen cells with anti-thymus antiserum and complement but was undiminished by passage of spleen cells through nylon-wool columns.
  • (5) Prior to joining JOE Media, Will was chief commercial officer at Dazed Group, where he also sat on the board of directors.
  • (6) The secretion of GH as measured by increased plasma level, in response to oral administration of 500 mg L-dopa or 30 min-infusion of arginine, was not modified by prior intravenous administration of 200 micrograms GH-releasing hormone (GHRH).
  • (7) In a double-blind, crossover-designed study, 9 male subjects (age range: 18-25 years) received 25 mg orally, four times per day of either S or an identically-appearing placebo (P) 2 d prior to and during HA.
  • (8) The remainder of the radioactivity appeared chromatographically just prior to the bisantrene peak, indicating that compounds more polar than the parent were present as transformation products.
  • (9) The number of gastrin-immunoreactive cells actually decreases just prior to weaning but then increases at and after, weaning.
  • (10) Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography was used for the separation of the steroid prior to assay.
  • (11) Blood samples were collected from an antecubital vein at sea level (S1), in a base camp at 1515 m prior to the summit ascent (S2), on the summit at 3285 m after 6.5 hours of climbing (S3), at base camp immediately after the descent (S4), and at sea level following a trail descent from the base camp (S5).
  • (12) A direct radioimmunoassay method using highly specific antisera without prior deconjugation has been developed for determination of estradiol 17-glucuronide and estriol 16-glucuronide in human plasma.
  • (13) Multiple operations were done in 7 patients prior to the appropriate diagnosis and treatment.
  • (14) Symptoms consistent with major affective disorder were present in one half and depressive spectrum diagnoses were made in one fourth of the cases prior to final diagnosis.
  • (15) In the genitourinary clinic setting, clinical diagnosis prior to biopsy was found frequently to be inaccurate.
  • (16) None of these were apparent on prior roentgenograms of the chest.
  • (17) It has a poor prognosis prior to the current combined treatment of surgical ablation, radiation to the surgical field, and chemotherapy for microscopic metastases.
  • (18) The flow cytometric measured DNA content (i.e., DNA index), S-fractions, and histopathologic malignancy grades were studied for ninety uterine cervical squamous cell carcinomas using tissue biopsies taken prior to radiotherapy.
  • (19) The consequences of proved hypersensitivity in patients with metal-to-plastic prostheses, either present prior to insertion of the prosthesis or evoked by the implant material, are not known.
  • (20) However, the effect of prior jaw motion and the effect of the recording site on the EMG amplitudes and on the vertical dimension of minimum EMG activity have not been documented.