| 释义 |
ahead, adv. (and prep.)|əˈhɛd|
[a prep.1 in, at + head.]
Originally a nautical term. Now used fig. in all its senses.
1. At the head, in advance, in front (of a moving company).
1628Digby Voy. Medit. (1868) 2 That the Admirall..shall each seuerall night goe ahead. 1666Lond. Gaz. lx/3 Our Fregats then which went on head, made sail. 1697Dryden æneid (J.) And now the mighty Centaur seems to lead, And now the speedy Dolphin gets ahead. 1844Disraeli Coningsby v. iv. 208 We have polled all our dead men, and Millbank is seven a-head.
2. In a position to the front, in the direct line of one's motion.
1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 330 They saw it just before them, or, as the seaman call it, right ahead. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §92 When it blows right a-head from Plymouth Sound. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Breakers ahead! the common password to warn the officer of broken water in the direction of the course.
3. In a position or direction pointing forward.
1596Sir F. Vere Comm. 32 Their ships lay thwart with their broadsides towards us, and most of us right a-head, that we could use but our chasing pieces. 1823F. Cooper Pioneer iii. (1869) 14/1 One who looked on a-head to the wants of posterity. 1873Brit. Q. Rev. Jan., To enable the four guns carried in it to be fired directly ahead or astern.
4. Of motion: Forward, onward.
1762Falconer Shipwr. i. 205 The boats with rowers mann'd are sent ahead.
5. Hence, Forward or onward at a rapid pace; headforemost, headlong; also fig. with headlong or unchecked course, unrestrainedly. esp. in the phrase to go a-head.
1643Milton Divorce Ded. Wks. 1847, 123/1 Such whose capacity, since their youth run ahead into the easy creak of a system, sails there at will under the blown physiognomy of their unlaboured rudiments. 1694R. Lestrange Fables (J.) They suffer them [children] to run ahead, and, when perverse inclinations are advanced into habits, there is no dealing with them. 1741Compl. Family-Piece ii. i. 288 'Tis the nature of the Hart, when he is close pursued, and almost spent, to make forth on Head. 1840Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) V. 24 We ‘go ahead’ quite as fast, as either the transporters or transported. 1879Browning Ivan Ivanovitch 111 He understood the case galloping straight a-head.
¶ Hence the adj. phr. go-a-head and its compounds.
1846Kingsley Life (1877) I. 143 It is the scientific go-a⁓head-ism of the day which must save us. 1865Mill Repres. Govt. 26/1 The striving go-ahead character of England and the United States.
6. a. ahead of: away in front of, in advance of.
1748Anson Voyage iii. vi. (ed. 4) 465 A boat ahead of us waved a red flag. 1825Br. Jonathan I. 385, I was working, all the time, to get ahead of Edith. 1835Sir J. Ross N.-W. Pass. xlvi. 588 The large iceberg ahead of us. 1876Green Short Hist. Epil., The rapid development of English industry for a time ran ahead of the world's demands.
b. With reference to time: in advance of, before; esp. in pred. phr. ahead of one's (or its) time, having ideas too original to be immediately accepted; also, new, original, incorporating advanced technological devices.
1901G. B. Shaw Devil's Disciple iii. 78 We are some minutes ahead of you already. 1920National Rev. Apr. 141 Men who had sympathized with the Allied cause some years ahead of President Wilson. 1934G. B. Shaw On Rocks i. 219 Women and men who are ahead of their time. They alone can lead the present into the future. They are ghosts from the future. 1947Redbook Sept. 112/3 Henry's ahead of his time. 1965A. J. P. Taylor Eng. Hist. 1914–45 viii. 272 Henderson..secured the withdrawal of Allied troops from the Rhineland five years ahead of time. 1972T. Stoppard Jumpers ii. 80 That astronaut..[is] going to find he was only twenty years ahead of his time. 1977Time 21 Nov. 15 (Advt.), Seiko has maintained its position as world leader in Digital Quartz by consistently introducing new, ahead-of-their-time watches. 1982Times 27 Feb. 13/2 Ahead of results on Monday Barclays Bank shed 5p to 351p.
7. quasi-prep. Short for ahead of.
1596Sir F. Vere Comm. 32 Sir Walter Raleigh came upon my left side with his ship; and very little a head me cast his anchor.
8. Used temporally: in or for the future; in advance.
1900W. F. Drannan 31 Years on Plains 132 Johnnie West and I having enough meat ahead to last several days, we pulled out for Taos. 1907G. B. Shaw Major Barbara i. 191 Charles Lomax will be a millionaire at 35. But that is ten years ahead. a1918W. Owen Coll. Poems (1963) 64 Your fifty years ahead seem none too many? 1922Joyce Ulysses 602 They're full up for the next three weeks, man. God, you've to book ahead, man. 1945E. Waugh Brideshead Revisited i. v. 123 Men..in all the full flood of academic and athletic success, of popularity and the promise of great rewards ahead. 1954J. R. R. Tolkien Two Towers iii. iv. 90 We have a long way to go, and there is time ahead for thought. 1969Auden City without Walls 75 When courage fails, when hopes are fading, Think on the victory ahead. 1981R. Hayman K iv. 34 It was a relief that the dreaded examination no longer lay ahead.
▸ Chiefly Business and Marketing (orig. U.S.). ahead of the (power) curve: better than predicted or expected; ahead of the competition; in a position to anticipate or initiate the latest developments. Cf. power curve n. 1.
1926Los Angeles Times 6 June 11/8 The common brick business refuses to follow the curves set up for the construction industry by some of the widely promoted statistical agencies. It is going ahead of the curve. 1978Fortune (Nexis) 10 Apr. 52 Attempts to ‘get ahead of the power curve’, as the marketeers put it, do not always work. 1984Bond Buyer (Nexis) 10 July 1 The chairman of the association's tax and finance committee..said that counties around the country ‘need to organize and get ahead of the curve’. 2003G. I. Kendall & S. C. Rollins Adv. Project Portfolio Managem. & PMO v. 75 If customer tastes change, the organization is ahead of the curve by having discovered these changes early on.
▸ orig. U.S.ahead of the game: (of a gambler or speculator) in profit with regard to a particular game or venture; (more generally) in a profitable or advantageous position.
1873T. W. Knox Underground l. 729 He was then ahead of the game nearly one thousand dollars, and the demon of avarice was fully aroused in his soul. 1892Hornesville (N.Y.) Weekly Tribune (Electronic text) 15 May I made my first real start on a speculation. I won at it and quit ahead of the game. 1927H. W. Laidler & N. Thomas Prosperity? i. 29 Assuming..that rent would come down at that time to an extent of 25 or 30 or 50 percent, the financiers will still be ahead of the game. 1985Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 30 June ii. 1 In terms of security procedures, L.A. International may be ‘ahead of the game’ compared to other airports. 2004Tool & Machinery Catal. 2005 (Axminster Power Tool Centre Ltd) vi. 8/3 This set of hex shanked flat bits..will keep you ahead of the game. |