go-ahead
noun
Usually the go-ahead permission or a signal to proceed.
go-ahead
American
[goh-uh-hed]
/ ˈgoʊ əˌhɛd /
noun
-
go-aheads
plural
-
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
-
moving forward; advancing.
-
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.”
-
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:
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
But Pages dropped the ball on the transfer, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 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
He made it to third on Jarren Duran’s push-bunt single and scored the go-ahead run when Connor Wong grounded into a double play.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 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
So go ahead, clear a spot in your living room, extend your arms and strike your best airplane pose — your future self will thank you.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
There are 12 races remaining on the 2026 schedule, though uncertainty remains over whether Qatar and Abu Dhabi will go ahead because of the conflict in the Middle East.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
To go ahead with a change of use under the new rules, developers will need to provide evidence that there is no reasonable prospect of keeping a pub business running.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
All book adaptations, whether from novels or memoirs, could stand to embellish the facts here and there, or go ahead and reinvent the wheel when possible.
From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026
When they visited local families, they were often served food that both of them found unsavory, but they would go ahead and eat it.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
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.
