Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for forerun. Search instead for foreruns.
Synonyms

forerun

American  
[fawr-ruhn, fohr-] / fɔrˈrʌn, foʊr- /

verb (used with object)

foreran, forerun, forerunning
  1. to run in front of; come before; precede.

  2. to be the precursor or harbinger of; prefigure.

  3. to anticipate or foretell.

  4. to forestall.

  5. to outrun or outstrip.


forerun British  
/ fɔːˈrʌn /

verb

  1. to serve as a herald for

  2. to go before; precede

  3. to prevent or forestall

"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

Etymology

Origin of forerun

1505–15; fore- + run; probably not continuous with Middle English forerennen (intransitive) to run ahead, Old English fōryrnan

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It may, however, forerun a wartime wave of back-to-the-bed "escape" novels.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the reflexes have a machine-like fatality, and conscious aim does not forerun their execution.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 4 "Bradford, William" to "Brequigny, Louis" by Various

The cape jasmine wore hundreds of her own white favors, whose fragrance forerun the sight.

From Dr. Sevier by Cable, George Washington

Gone, gone, gone! they have fled before the piercing and terrible winds that forerun the storms and the hurricanes.

From Adventures in the Philippine Islands by La Gironière, Paul P. de

When the water's countenance Blurrs 'twixt glance and second glance; When our tattered smokes forerun.

From Songs from Books by Kipling, Rudyard