go-ahead

[ goh-uh-hed ]
See synonyms for go-ahead on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Usually the go-ahead . permission or a signal to proceed: They got the go-ahead on the construction work.

  2. Usually the go-ahead .Baseball. go-ahead run: With two outs, and the go-ahead on first, Hoffman winds up and delivers the pitch.

  1. Chiefly Hawaii and California. a sandal held on the foot by a strap between the big toe and the next toe.

adjective
  1. moving forward; advancing.

  2. enterprising: a go-ahead Yankee peddler.

Origin of go-ahead

1
An Americanism first recorded in 1830–40; noun and adjective use of verb phrase go ahead

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use go-ahead in a sentence

  • Either: we cannot give you what you ask, so fall back onto the defensive; or, go ahead, we will give you the means.

  • It is a generally accepted axiom that a public man cannot afford to be modest in these go-ahead days of "boom."

    The Doctor of Pimlico | William Le Queux
  • Darrell pressed his arm, and answered, with a smile, "I won't argue with you about the War; you go ahead and write your book!"

    Love's Pilgrimage | Upton Sinclair
  • There—I feel better—cant work this morning—not in the mood—you go ahead—Im through!

    The Woman Gives | Owen Johnson
  • When he told his plan he was laughed at by some who thought it very foolish, but Porter told him to go ahead.

British Dictionary definitions for go ahead

go ahead

verb
  1. (intr, adverb) to start or continue, often after obtaining permission

noungo-ahead
  1. the go-ahead informal permission to proceed

adjectivego-ahead
  1. enterprising or ambitious

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with go-ahead

go-ahead

Move forward rapidly or act without restraint; also, continue something. For example, If you want to borrow the tractor, go ahead. This expression is often put as go ahead with, as in Are you going ahead with the house party? The term dates from the mid-1600s and gave rise to give the go-ahead, meaning “give permission to move or act in some way.”

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.