Ahead means in front or before, whether in space, time, or progress. When you're ahead in a race, you're leading the other runners. When someone arrives ahead of schedule, they get there earlier than expected. When a student is ahead in math, they've learned concepts beyond their current grade level.

The word captures the idea of being further along than others or further along than expected. A chess player who thinks several moves ahead imagines what might happen later in the game. A family that plans ahead for vacation books hotels early, before they're all full.

You'll often hear ahead in phrases that show different kinds of forward movement. Someone might forge ahead despite obstacles, meaning they keep moving forward even when things get difficult. A team that pulls ahead takes the lead. Looking ahead means thinking about the future instead of dwelling on the past.

The opposite of ahead is behind. If you finish your homework ahead of your friend, you're done first. If you fall behind in reading, you haven't finished as many chapters as you were supposed to. Being ahead usually means you've worked efficiently, planned well, or moved quickly, though sometimes it just means you got lucky with an early start.