Etymology

From a- +‎ headCategory:English terms prefixed with a-#HEAD. Perhaps originally a nautical term, "beyond the head (of a ship)", then drifting into more general English usage where it is used to describe something as being "in front of".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈhɛd/Category:English 2-syllable words#AHEADCategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#AHEAD

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#AHEAD

• Audio (UK, male voice):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#AHEAD
• Rhymes: -ɛdCategory:Rhymes:English/ɛd#AHEADCategory:Rhymes:English/ɛd/2 syllables#AHEAD
• Hyphenation: ahead

Adverb

ahead (not comparable)Category:English lemmas#AHEADCategory:English adverbs#AHEADCategory:English uncomparable adverbs#AHEADCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#AHEADCategory:Pages with entries#AHEADCategory:Pages with 1 entry#AHEAD

1. At or towards the front; in the direction one is facing or moving.

   The island was directly ahead.Category:English terms with usage examples#AHEAD

   Just ahead you can see the cliffs.Category:English terms with usage examples#AHEAD

   Keep going straight ahead.Category:English terms with usage examples#AHEAD

2. So as to be further advanced, either spatially or in an abstract sense; to be superior.

   He finished two laps ahead of me.Category:English terms with usage examples#AHEAD

   In all of his classes Jack was ahead.Category:English terms with usage examples#AHEAD

3. In or for the future.

   There may be tough times ahead.Category:English terms with usage examples#AHEAD

   You've got to think ahead so as not to be unprepared.Category:English terms with usage examples#AHEAD

4. To a later time.

   Set the clock ahead an hour.Category:English terms with usage examples#AHEAD

   Push the deadline ahead a day, from the 20th to the 21st.Category:English terms with usage examples#AHEAD

   • 1995, Charles Edward Weber, Stories of Virtue in Business, University Press of America, →ISBN, page 55:

     Then the customer would set a rebidding deadline ahead a month - for example from September 1 to October 1 - and give everybody four weeks to submit […]

     Category:English terms with quotations#AHEAD

   • 1998, United States House Committee on Agriculture, Subcommittee on Department Operations, Nutrition, and Foreign Agriculture, Implementation of the Food Quality Protection Act: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Department Operations, Nutrition, and Foreign Agriculture of the Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, One Hundred Fifth Congress, Second Session, June 25, 1998, page 46:

     When we saw that wasn't working in 1976, we moved the deadline ahead to 1978.

     Category:English terms with quotations#AHEAD

5. At an earlier time; beforehand; in advance.

   He paid his rent ahead.Category:English terms with usage examples#AHEAD

6. To an earlier time.

   Push the deadline ahead a day, from the 21st to the 20th.Category:English terms with usage examples#AHEAD

   • 1985, Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, volume 43, page 606:

     […] committees in Congress hae a March 15 deadline for reporting their "views and estimates" to the budget committees. The Senate Republican leadership, eager to get a jump on the annual budget process, moved the deadline ahead to March 1 for Senate committees.

     Category:English terms with quotations#AHEAD

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
   • 2003, United States House Committee on Government Reform, Smooth Sailing Or an Impending Wreck?: The Impact of New Visa and Passport Requirements on Foreign Travel to the United States : Hearing Before the Committee on Government Reform, House of Representatives, One Hundred Eighth Congress, First Session, July 10, 2003, page 113:

     […] the Department is responding to the statutory requirement in the USA Patriot Act that moved the deadline ahead to 2003 from 2007.

     Category:English terms with quotations#AHEAD

References

• “ahead”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• aahed