foreshadowing

noun

fore·shad·ow·ing | \ fȯr-ˈsha-də-wiŋ

How to pronounce foreshadowing (audio)

\

plural foreshadowings

Definition of foreshadowing

: an indication of what is to come If the history of the world were a novel, the events so strikingly chronicled in the photographs in this book … would seem a foreshadowing of the recent events …— Ralph Novak On this merry Christmas evening, however, no fears or dim foreshadowings of any coming event clouded our hearts or faces.— Lucy Maud Montgomery also : the use of such indications (as in a work of literature) And, further, Rose is a genuine cliff-hanger, or page-turner, full of foreshadowing … and all the tried and tricky methods of creating suspense. — John Simon

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The first known use of foreshadowing was in 1587

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