ahead
/əˈhɛd
/adverb
1Further forward in space; in the line of one’s forward motion: the road ahead he was striding ahead towards the stream...
- ‘Come, we might as well start our journey as we talk,’ he said as he motioned towards the road ahead.
- They're not moving, just gazing ahead toward the Japanese lines.
- A passenger in his car, his son, said he had not been paying attention to the road ahead as they travelled towards their home.
Synonyms
forward(s), towards the front, frontwards;
onwards, on, forth
in front, at the head, in the lead, at the fore, to the fore, in the vanguard, in the van, in advance, at the head of the queue
1.1Further forward in time; in the near future: he contemplated the day ahead we have to plan ahead...
- What steps have been taken, and what's ahead in the near future?
- Having just finished recording his debut album last week, Mike plans to learn more about music, take sound engineering courses and plan ahead for the future.
- Mrs Gilligan, who with her husband and sons runs a thriving dairying farm, believes the new system will give farmers the freedom to plan ahead for the future.
Synonyms
in the future, in time, in time to come, in the fullness of time, at a later date, after this, henceforth, subsequently, later on, in due course, next, from now on, from this day/time on, from this day forth/forward
2In the lead: he was slightly ahead on points...
- Bootham Cons surged ahead to lead 8-1 but Holgate fought back to 10-10 after 11 ends.
- Ecofin's day at the races… And they're coming up the back stretch now and it's Economic Recovery way ahead in the lead.
- Quitting while he was ahead, Shaw led his last big band in 1950.
Synonyms
leading, winning, in the lead, (out) in front, to the fore, first, coming first
informal up front
3Higher in number, amount, or value than previously: profits were slightly ahead...
- Markets and share values were moving ahead anyway.
- Trading at its hotels in the US had also improved with profits ahead 20% on the same period last year.
- Analysts expect next year's half-year profits to nudge ahead to about £60m from £57m last time.
Phrases
ahead of
ahead of time
ahead of one's (or its) time
get ahead of oneself
Origin
Mid 16th century (originally in nautical use): from a-2 'in, at' + head.