go-ahead
noun
Usually the go-ahead permission or a signal to proceed.
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go-ahead
American
[goh-uh-hed]
/ ˈgoʊ əˌhɛd /
noun
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go-aheads
plural
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Usually the go-ahead permission or a signal to proceed.
They got the go-ahead on the construction work.
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Baseball. Usually the go-ahead go-ahead run.
With two outs, and the go-ahead on first, Hoffman winds up and delivers the pitch.
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Chiefly Hawaii and California. a sandal held on the foot by a strap between the big toe and the next toe.
adjective
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moving forward; advancing.
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a go-ahead Yankee peddler.
go ahead
British
verb
noun
adjective
go ahead
Idioms
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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.”
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go ahead of . Make one's way to the front of, as in They went ahead of me to see the purser . [Mid-1700s]
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of go-ahead
An Americanism first recorded in 1830–40; noun and adjective use of verb phrase go ahead
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.
See Examples For:
Both projects had already been given the go-ahead under the previous Conservative government but were successfully challenged in the Scottish courts on environmental grounds.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
On Friday, W. Mark Ward, a judge appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court to review her case, gave the go-ahead for the execution, ruling that the state’s execution process would not violate Pike’s constitutional rights.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
If it gets the go-ahead, Jackdaw would be ready in "perfect time for the winter season when you need more gas," he added.
From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026
New Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola gave the move the go-ahead last week and spoke to Araujo via phone, before the Uruguay international travelled to England.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
Mike gave us the go-ahead to resume our ascent, and Ang Dorje and I started climbing as fast as we could in order to warm ourselves.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
"The physical risk of running out of gas is relatively low, especially if Jackdaw gets the go ahead."
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
“Most of the time they go ahead and order a new primary, but there’s no time.”
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
As of August 2026, Glasgow has 21,655 student beds with a further 18,213 in the development pipeline, meaning the city could host almost 40,000 student beds if all proposed schemes go ahead.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026
“The one thing I would like an AI agent to do for me is to go ahead and get rid of AI altogether. Let’s go back to the ‘90s please!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
I let Zara go ahead of me carrying the platter of her mom’s famous shish tawook and pita, with a box of gluten-free crackers she sent special for me, while I stop at the mailbox.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
If they can secure the zoning approval and the go-aheads from the community advisory board and gaming commission, they will then have to pay at least a $500 million license fee to the state.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2022
After my recent column on different synonyms for flip-flops — zories, go-aheads, thongs, etc. — readers wrote in to share terms they learned growing up.
From Washington Post ● May 5, 2021
But church officials say their own plan is “shovel ready,” awaiting formal go-aheads from city and state financing agencies.
From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2010
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
