one jump ahead

1. Anticipating and prepared for what will happen, as in We have to keep one jump ahead of the opposition, or A clever embezzler, Charles was just one jump ahead of the police. [First half of 1900s] Also see get the jump on.

Example Sentences

Throughout his epic, scandal-ridden career, Donald Trump has compiled an astonishing record of impunity, constantly staying one jump ahead of prosecutors, plaintiffs and creditors.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Along the way — one jump ahead of Billie and her accompanying gun-thugettes until the very end — Cole and Mila fall in with the Sisters of All Sorrows, a bunch of wannabe nuns who feel sure that if they apologize enough, the men will come back.

Read more on New York Times

An ex-CIA agent and his lover write a book about the agency, one jump ahead of agents sent to stop them.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

‘Half the folks in that house don’t pay the rent, and it a big expense to keep everthing up. I tell you the truth—the Kellys is just barely keeping one jump ahead of the sheriff. They having a mighty hard time.’

Read more on Literature

“One Jump Ahead” is slow and jerky, and begins with no fanfare.

Read more on The Verge