# ahead
## English
### Etymology

From 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: /əˈhɛd/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Audio (UK, male voice):(file)
* Rhymes: -ɛd
* Hyphenation: ahead

### Adverb

ahead (not comparable)
* At or towards the front; in the direction one is facing or moving.
    The island was directly ahead.
    Just ahead you can see the cliffs.
    Keep going straight ahead.
* So as to be further advanced, either spatially or in an abstract sense; to be superior.
    He finished two laps ahead of me.
    In all of his classes Jack was ahead.
* In or for the future.
    There may be tough times ahead.
    You've got to think ahead so as not to be unprepared.
* To a later time.
    Set the clock ahead an hour.
    Push the deadline ahead a day, from the 20th to the 21st.
** 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 […]
** 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.
* At an earlier time; beforehand; in advance.
    He paid his rent ahead.
* To an earlier time.
    Push the deadline ahead a day, from the 21st to the 20th.
** 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.
** 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.

#### Antonyms

* (nautical) astern
* behind

#### Hyponyms

* straight ahead

#### Derived terms

* aheadness
* ahead of time
* bound ahead
* call ahead
* draw ahead
* epub ahead of print
* freeze-ahead
* go-ahead
* have one's whole life ahead of one
* leap ahead
* lie ahead
* line ahead
* loom ahead
* nudge ahead
* one jump ahead
* phone ahead
* plan ahead
* power ahead
* prepare ahead
* quit when one is ahead
* radio ahead
* readahead
* roar ahead
* set ahead
* typeahead

#### Related terms

* ahead of

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### References

* “ahead”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

### Anagrams

* aahed