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
-
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:
He got Jake Bauers to hit a ground ball to the right side of the field, but it found a hole to drive in the go-ahead run.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 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
Then, in his second, he worked a 2-2 count, before roping a curveball up the right-field line for a go-ahead two-run double.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Based on that data, the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has given the go-ahead for human trials.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
Then Gaines lets go, moving back into his anguished solitude, on the headset once again to Belew in the press box trying to crack the Marshall defense for the go-ahead score.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
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
The city has implemented a car-free day to allow the search to go ahead, with citizens urged to comply.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken has been impressed with Thompson’s work ethic, saying “he’s willing to go ahead and put in the work.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
Private-equity firm Madison Dearborn took defense contractor Aevex public at a valuation of more than $2 billion in April after deciding not to go ahead with plans for a private sale.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
In positive sentiment override, I say, ‘Sorry, go ahead.’
From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell
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.
