advance guardn.
/ədˈvɑːns ˈɡɑːd/, /ədˈvans ˈɡɑːd/, U.S. /ədˈvæns ˈɡɑrd/ 1. A body of troops sent out before or in front of the main body of an army. In early use also in plural: such troops regarded individually. Cf. avant-garde n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > armed forces > the Army > group with special function or duty > [noun] > for guard duty > advanced guard
forlorn hope1579
point1589
forlorn1645
advanced guard1677
advance party1686
advance guard1690
advance1780
1676 W. Carr Partic. Acct. Siege Mastricht 16 The Alarm grew hot in the Princes Leaguer, that the French were come, that the French were come: this caused some little confusion amongst some Troops then on the advance guard of the Town.]
1690 Jrnl. Late Motions & Actions of Confederate Forces 15 The French Army is now Encamped within a Mile of us, and our Advance-guards can see their whole Camp.
1692 J. Shirley True Impartial Hist. Irel. 36 Their great Guns being mounted on the Wall, they fired upon the Advance-Guard of the Enemy.
1758 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1881) XVIII. 113 The Advance Guard..have cleared off the Trees and built Breastworks.
1798 W. Francklin Hist. Reign Shah-Aulum iii. 40 The Marhatta forces were sent on as an advance guard, and the king and Nujuff Khan followed with the remainder of the troops.
1829 W. Irving Chron. Conq. Granada I. xi. 88 He..came with such force and fury upon the advance guard as to overturn many of them at the first encounter.
1852 G. Bancroft Hist. Amer. Revol. II. x. 251 Virginia volunteers formed the advance guard.
1927 Amer. Mercury May 108/1 It had..an advance guard of horsemen, flank guards, hunters and roving outriders, each common duty being discharged in turn by every member of the train.
1956 Life 30 July 52/1 A platoon from our squadron was now ordered to relieve the advance guard.
2004 Express (Nexis) 30 Oct. 12 Troops..came under rocket fire as an advance guard took over the military complex of Camp Dogwood.
2. figurative. The forefront of a particular movement or endeavour; the pioneers or innovators in a particular field; the vanguard. Cf. avant-garde n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > advancement or progress > [noun] > pioneering or breaking new ground > a pioneer
pioneer1605
outstarter1738
advance guard1759
path-breaker1843
pathfinder1847
torch-bearer1847
path-hewer1879
pacesetter1895
pacemaker1905
trail-blazer1908
style-setter1959
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > newness or novelty > [noun] > innovation or avant-gardism > innovator or avant-gardist > avant-garde
advance guard1759
avant-garde1910
1759 J. Hanway Reasons for Augmentation of 12,000 Mariners ii. ix. 28 Seamen are..the advance-guard of our liberty, and the source from whence the splendour of our nation flows.
1852 N. Hawthorne Blithedale Romance xvii. 177 Realities keep in the rear, and put forward an advance-guard of show and humbug.
1931 ‘C. St. John’ in E. Terry & G. B. Shaw Corr. 297 His refusal..made him specially obnoxious to the advance guard of the drama.
1959 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Nov. p. xxix/1 Advance guard Americans are convinced..that..Abstract Expressionism radiates the world over.
2006 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 31 Oct. 27 He enjoyed teaching nuns, who were in the advance guard of a growing Catholic element.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.1690