come out ahead

Idioms  

1. Succeed, make a profit. For example, By the end of the year we expect to come out ahead. Also see ahead of the game.

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Example Sentences

With the midterm elections a little more than six months away, people are already placing their bets on which political party will come out ahead and what it will mean for businesses and the economy.

From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026

“For cyber defenders to come out ahead, we need to act now.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

From a tax perspective, because withdrawals on the brokerage account are taxed as capital gains and not ordinary income, the household “may even come out ahead from a long-term tax perspective,” he noted.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 14, 2026

“You can get a week’s vacation and dental work and still come out ahead of what you’d be paying in the U.S.,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 28, 2026

I figured out I would run past the British troops and come out ahead of them before they reached Dr. Hobart’s house.

From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier