- 1happening before the normal or expected time his premature death at the age of 37 Because of injury, her playing career came to a premature end in 2008.
- 2(of a birth or a baby) happening or being born before the normal length of pregnancy has been completed The baby was four weeks premature. a premature birth after only thirty weeks
- 3happening or made too soon a premature conclusion/decision/judgment It is premature to talk about success at this stage.
adverb The child was born prematurely. Her hair became prematurely white.See premature in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
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