ahead
[adverb]
Synonyms: in front, at an advantage, at the head, before, in advance, in the lead, leading, to the fore, winning

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Antonyms: behind
Contrasted words: after

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English Thesaurus: victory, win, triumph, conquest, landslide, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

a‧head S1 W2 /əˈhed/ adverb

1. IN FRONT a short distance in front of someone or something Antonym : behind:
He kept his gaze fixed on the car ahead.
ahead of
A hill loomed ahead of them.
We could see the lights of Las Vegas up ahead.
some/a little/a long way ahead
The clinic was now in sight, some way ahead.
straight/dead ahead (=straight in front)
The river is eight miles away dead ahead.
Henry hurried on ahead (=went in front of the others).

2. FORWARD if someone or something looks or moves ahead, they look or move forward:
He stared straight ahead.
The ship forged ahead through the thin ice.

3. BEFORE SOMEBODY ELSE before someone else
ahead of
There were four people ahead of me at the doctor’s.

4. FUTURE in the future
ahead of
You have a long trip ahead of you.
Problems may lie ahead.
the years/days/months etc ahead
We do not foresee any major changes in the years ahead.
Unless we plan ahead (=plan for the future) we are going to be in a mess.

5. BEFORE AN EVENT before an event happens Synonym : in advance:
I cook rice two or three hours ahead.
Can you tell me ahead of time if you’re coming?
ahead of
He’s giving a series of concerts in London ahead of his international tour.

6. ahead of schedule earlier than planned or arranged:
I arrived at Jack’s suite half an hour ahead of schedule.

7. PROGRESS/SUCCESS making progress and being successful in your job, education etc
get/keep/stay ahead
Getting ahead at work is the most important thing to her at the moment.

8. ADVANCED ideas, achievements etc that are ahead of others have made more progress or are more developed:
This design is light years ahead (=much more advanced) in performance and comfort.
ahead of your/its time (=very advanced or new, and not understood or accepted)
Coleridge was in many ways far ahead of his time.

9. WINNING winning in a competition or election:
Two shots from Gardner put the Giants 80–75 ahead.
We are 10 points ahead in the polls.
ahead of
At this stage, Smith appeared to be ahead of his rivals.

10. go ahead
a) spoken used to tell someone they can do something:
‘Can I have the sports section?’ ‘Yeah, go ahead, I’ve read it.’
b) to do something that was planned, especially in spite of a problem
go ahead with
Frank’ll be late but we’ll go ahead with the meeting anyway.
c) to take place:
Tests of anti-cancer drugs are to go ahead this year. ⇒ go-ahead¹

11. ahead of the game/curve informal in a position where you are more advanced or more successful than your competitors:
Belmont city leaders have never been ahead of the curve in environmental matters.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

victory noun [uncountable and countable] a situation in which you win a battle, game, election, or dispute:
The crowds celebrated Italy’s victory against England.
The party won a comfortable victory in the general election.
We’re very confident of victory.
win noun [countable] a victory in a sports game or in a competition:
It was an important win for the Yankees.
A couple from London are celebrating a big lottery win.
triumph noun [countable] written an important victory, especially in war or politics:
Thatcher’s greatest triumph was becoming the UK’s first female Prime Minister.
conquest noun [countable] a situation in which one country wins a war against another country and takes control of it:
the Spanish conquest of Mexico
Caesar is well-known for his military conquests.
landslide noun [countable] an election victory in which one party or candidate gets far more votes than their opponents:
In 1945, there was a Labour landslide.
walkover especially British English, cakewalk American English noun [countable] informal a very easy victory:
The match was expected to be a walkover for Brazil.
upset noun [countable] a situation in which the person, team, party etc that was expected to win is defeated:
Truman pulled off the greatest election upset in United States history.
come first/be first to win a race or competition:
Our team came first.
Jo was first in the race and I was second.
finish in first place (also come in first) to win a race, competition, or election:
The Democratic candidate finished in first place.
I couldn’t believe it when the horse I chose came in first.
come out on top informal to win a game, competition, argument etc:
United came out on top after a thrilling game.
They did a survey and the Swedish car-maker came out on top.
If you try to argue with him, he always comes out on top.
be leading/be in the lead to be winning a game, race election etc at the moment:
The High School team are leading with sixty points.
With only two minutes left to play, we were still in the lead.
be ahead to be doing better than someone else in a game, competition, or election:
He’s still fifty seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
A week before the election, they were still ahead in the polls.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

win to be the best or most successful in a competition, game, election etc:
Italy won the World Cup in 2006.
He has a realistic chance of winning the Championship.
come first/be first to win a race or competition:
Our team came first.
Jo was first in the race and I was second.
finish in first place (also come in first) to win a race, competition, or election:
The Democratic candidate finished in first place.
I couldn’t believe it when the horse I chose came in first.
triumph written to win a great victory, especially after a long and difficult battle, game etc:
Britain triumphed over its enemies.
In the end, the Yankees triumphed.
come out on top informal to win a game, competition, argument etc:
United came out on top after a thrilling game.
They did a survey and the Swedish car-maker came out on top.
If you try to argue with him, he always comes out on top.
be leading/be in the lead to be winning a game, race election etc at the moment:
The High School team are leading with sixty points.
With only two minutes left to play, we were still in the lead.
be ahead to be doing better than someone else in a game, competition, or election:
He’s still fifty seconds ahead of his nearest rival.
A week before the election, they were still ahead in the polls.
winner the person or thing that wins a race, competition etc:
A prize of £500 will be awarded to the winner.
the winning team/player/horse etc the one that wins:
The winning team will go through to the grand final in Milan.
champion (also the title holder American English) someone who has won a competition, especially in sport:
He became the heavyweight boxing champion.
record-holder someone who has achieved the fastest speed, the longest distance etc in a sport:
the world high-jump record-holder
a big win (=an important win, or one that you win by a large amount)
This is one of the biggest wins I’ve had.
an easy win
The Australian appeared to be heading for an easy win.
a comfortable win (=one that you win by a large amount, so that you do not have to worry about winning)
Chelsea had a comfortable win against Crystal Palace.
a convincing win especially British English (=a win by a large amount)
Scotland cruised to a convincing win over Ireland.
a five-point/two-goal etc win
The team had a nine-point win over Arizona.
have/score a win
We haven’t had a win for three games.
notch up a win (=achieve a win)
Escude has now notched up three consecutive wins over him.
pull off a win (=win when it is difficult to win)
The side has pulled off two excellent wins in the past couple of weeks.
clinch a win (=finally win after a difficult contest)
He suffered some anxious moments before clinching a 9–6 win over Dennis Taylor last night.
cruise to a win (=win easily)
Arsenal cruised to a win over Chelsea.
victory noun [uncountable and countable] a situation in which you win a battle, game, election, or dispute:
The crowds celebrated Italy’s victory against England.
The party won a comfortable victory in the general election.
We’re very confident of victory.
conquest noun [countable] a situation in which one country wins a war against another country and takes control of it:
the Spanish conquest of Mexico
Caesar is well-known for his military conquests.
landslide noun [countable] an election victory in which one party or candidate gets far more votes than their opponents:
In 1945, there was a Labour landslide.
walkover especially British English, cakewalk American English noun [countable] informal a very easy victory:
The match was expected to be a walkover for Brazil.
upset noun [countable] a situation in which the person, team, party etc that was expected to win is defeated:
Truman pulled off the greatest election upset in United States history.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

ahead
əˈhed
See: dead ahead , get ahead

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲