ahead

adverb or adjective

ə-ˈhed 

1

a

: in a forward direction or position : forward

b

: in front

2

: in, into, or for the future

plan ahead

3

: in or toward a more advantageous position

helped others to get ahead

4

: at or to an earlier time : in advance

make payments ahead

5

a

: in or into a leading position in a race or competition

a politician who is running ahead in most polls

Josh Carter scored from a yard out and the Pride added a two-point conversion to surge ahead 14-7.

—Cumberland (Maryland) Times-News

b baseball

(1)

of a pitcher : in or into the situation of having thrown more strikes than balls to a batter

Home run threat Mark Reynolds was up next with the bases loaded, but Colon quickly got ahead 1-2 in the count and struck the third baseman out swinging with a … fastball.

—Ray Monell

(2)

of a batter : in or into the situation of having a count of more balls than strikes

Albert Pujols got ahead 3-1 and then lined one into the seats in left for his 20th home run of the year and second of the series.

—John Fay

Synonyms

• afore [chiefly dialect]
• already
• antecedently
• anteriorly
• before
• beforehand
• earlier
• formerly
• preliminarily
• previously

Examples of ahead in a Sentence

call ahead for reservations

sent me ahead to get a place in the check-out line while she went to get the eggs and milk

the line moved ahead at a snail's pace

Recent Examples on the Web

Oracle shares soar after earnings beat Shares of Oracle surged 13% after the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter results that beat on the top and bottom lines and indicated more cloud growth ahead. —Nur Hikmah Md Ali, CNBC, 13 June 2025

People experience stress, fear and doubt when the path ahead is unclear. —Eric Reicin, Forbes.com, 12 June 2025

But the delay signals a tough fight ahead for the ordinance that backers say will lift rideshare driver pay above minimum wage. —Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2025

Aaron Nesmith’s 3-pointer while falling out of bounds with 3:04 left put the Pacers ahead by eight, and Turner blocked Holmgren on a 3 and then a layup attempt on the same possession with about two minutes remaining and Indiana ahead by six. —Joe Vardon, New York Times, 12 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1568, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing ahead

• ahead of
• ahead of one's/its time
• ahead of one's time
• ahead of schedule
• ahead of the curve
• ahead of the game
• ahead of time
• a/one step ahead of
• are/keep/stay one jump ahead
• dead ahead
• full steam/speed ahead
• get ahead
• given the go-ahead
• go-ahead
• go ahead with (something)
• going full speed ahead
• lie ahead
• light-years ahead
• look ahead
• move ahead/along
• plow ahead
• pull ahead
• received/got the go-ahead
• stay/keep ahead of the field
• straight-ahead
• streets ahead of
• the go-ahead
• think ahead

Rhymes for ahead

• abed
• beachhead
• bedspread
• bedstead
• behead
• blackhead
• blockhead
• bloodshed
• bowhead
• breastfed
• bridgehead
• broadhead

Kids Definition

ahead

adverb or adjective

ə-ˈhed 

1

: in or toward the front

the road ahead

go ahead

2

: in, into, or for the future

think ahead

3

: in or toward a better position

came out $20 ahead on the deal

4

: at or to an earlier time : in advance

make payments ahead