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:
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
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
Gary Edwards scored the go-ahead touchdown, intercepted a pass to squelch a Plano East comeback, and then scored again.
From "Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, And A Dream" by H.G. Bissinger
Should it go ahead, the Sandpiper Project would be a world-first, with other offshore phosphate mining projects having been held back by environmental concerns.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
—In Europe, bond supply will come from Germany, which auctions 6 billion euros in August 2036 Bund, while Finland is set to go ahead with the syndicated launch of a new seven-year bond.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
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
The actor and writer, 70, said in a statement on Instagram, external on Monday that filming would no longer go ahead so he can have "immediate surgery".
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
“Sleep here. You’ll need energy for the next obstacle. I will go ahead and see how much farther we have.”
From "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young
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.
