sooner

B2 · Upper Intermediate

adv. used to say you would prefer to do one thing rather than another.

adv. used to indicate a preference for one action or state over another, typically following 'would'.

“I would sooner stay at home than go out in this heavy rain.”

“The CEO stated he would sooner resign his position than oversee a merger that compromised the company's ethical standards.”

C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Sports American English · Informal

n. a person who lives in or comes from the U.S. state of Oklahoma.

n. a native or resident of the American state of Oklahoma; also the nickname for the state's university athletic teams.

“As a proud Sooner, she always wore her university colors on game days.”

“The local economy was bolstered by thousands of Sooners who traveled across the state to attend the championship game.”

C2 · Proficiency Countable noun American English · Technical

n. a person who entered land in Oklahoma early to claim it before it was legal to do so.

n. a person who entered the Unassigned Lands in what is now Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889.

“The history book explained how the Sooners hid in the brush to claim the best land.”

“Historical accounts of the land rush describe the tension between legal settlers and the Sooners who had bypassed the official starting line.”