pioneering
Americanadjective
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being a pioneer, one of the first to settle a region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.
This early pioneering family helped open up western Victoria in Australia.
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being among the first in any field of inquiry or activity; being among those spearheading an initiative of some kind.
Ours is a pioneering institution, continually advancing the understanding of medicine through groundbreaking research.
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Ecology. (of an organism) successfully establishing itself in a barren area, thus starting an ecological cycle of life.
Pioneering species can initiate recovery on drastically disturbed sites like that of the former gas plant.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pioneering
First recorded in 1700–10; pioneer ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; pioneer ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun sense
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.
Sierra, which builds customer-service AI agents, is largely credited for pioneering the outcome-based pricing model.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026
For Jutta Ambrositsch, a pioneering figure among the new wave of Viennese winemakers, "the major problem is insensitive and careless real estate development in the 'heurigen areas'".
From Barron's ● Jul. 26, 2026
In our demonizing present, the story of such a pioneering truth-teller speaks powerfully to the needs of our blended American future.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
He has turned Regeneron into one of the world’s most valuable drug companies, with a market cap of roughly $70 billion, by repeatedly pioneering technologies that opened up entirely new classes of blockbuster drugs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
But I sometimes imagine that he merely slipped during a courageous and pioneering venture in observational geophysics.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
