To bring forward means to move something to an earlier time or date. When a teacher brings forward a test from Friday to Wednesday, the class takes it sooner than originally planned. When a meeting gets brought forward, it happens earlier in the day or week than first scheduled.

The phrase comes from the idea of moving something closer to you in time, pulling it from later toward now. If your family's vacation was planned for August but gets brought forward to July, you leave a month earlier. If a deadline gets brought forward from the end of the month to next week, you have less time to complete your work.

Bringing something forward is the opposite of postponing it or pushing it back. When you postpone something, you delay it to a later time. When you bring it forward, you move it to an earlier time. This distinction matters: if someone says “Let's bring the party forward to Saturday,” they mean having it sooner, not later.

The phrase can also mean to present or introduce an idea or proposal, as in bringing forward a motion in student council. In that context, you're moving an idea from your mind into the group's discussion.