"ahead" in the adjective sense
1. ahead, in the lead, leading
having the leading position or higher score in a contest
"he is ahead by a pawn"
"the leading team in the pennant race"
"ahead" in the adverb sense
1. ahead, in front, before
at or in the front
"I see the lights of a town ahead"
"the road ahead is foggy"
"staring straight ahead"
"we couldn't see over the heads of the people in front"
"with the cross of Jesus marching on before"
2. ahead, forward
toward the future forward in time
"I like to look ahead in imagination to what the future may bring"
"I look forward to seeing you"
3. ahead, onward, onwards, forward, forwards, forrader
in a forward direction
"go ahead"
"the train moved ahead slowly"
"the boat lurched ahead"
"moved onward into the forest"
"they went slowly forward in the mud"
4. ahead, in advance, beforehand
ahead of time in anticipation
"when you pay ahead (or in advance) you receive a discount"
"We like to plan ahead"
"should have made reservations beforehand"
5. ahead
to a more advanced or advantageous position
"a young man sure to get ahead"
"pushing talented students ahead"
6. ahead
to a different or a more advanced time (meaning advanced either toward the present or toward the future
"moved the appointment ahead from Tuesday to Monday"
"pushed the deadline ahead from Tuesday to Wednesday"
7. ahead, out front, in the lead
leading or ahead in a competition
"the horse was three lengths ahead going into the home stretch"
"ahead by two pawns"
"our candidate is in the lead in the polls"
"way out front in the race"
"the advertising campaign put them out front in sales"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.
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