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vanguard

[van-gahrd]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR vanguard ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the foremost division or the front part of an army; advance guard; van.

the forefront in any movement, field, activity, or the like.

the leaders of any intellectual or political movement.

(initial capital letter) Rocketry. a U.S. three-stage, satellite-launching rocket, the first two stages powered by liquid-propellant engines and the third by a solid-propellant engine.

Origin of vanguard

1480–90; earlier van(d)gard(e) < Middle French avangarde, variant of avant-garde; see avaunt, guard

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for vanguard

front, leading, lead

Examples from the Web for vanguard

Contemporary Examples of vanguard

Stasio was just one member of a vast hacking enterprise, the vanguard of a new cyber war.
How the NSA Became a Killing Machine
Shane Harris
November 9, 2014
He was on the vanguard of domestic policy and created a tremendous amount of legislation that we enjoy today.
Bryan Cranston on Walter White’s Future, Directing ‘Better Call Saul,’ and Hillary 2016
Marlow Stern
August 1, 2014
At the vanguard of the protests has been the galvanizing effect of social media.
Brazil’s World Cup Is An Expensive, Exploitative Nightmare
Vac Verikaitis
May 30, 2014
At its peak, the group drew 100 members to its weekly meetings and was a vanguard for LGBT advocacy.
Mormon U. Forces Gays to Be Celibate
Emily Shire
May 13, 2014
Miller has long been a regular contributor on anti-Semitic and white supremacist Internet forum Vanguard News Network (VNN).
Hate—and Hitler—in the Heartland: The Arrest of Frazier Glenn Miller
John Avlon, Caitlin Dickson
April 14, 2014

Historical Examples of vanguard

For a whole month the German vanguard remained on the lookout in the village.
A Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales
Guy De Maupassant
We are the pioneers, the vanguard, the riskers full of faith and hope.
Fruitfulness
Emile Zola
Had we been forced to meet them vanguard to vanguard, on an equal footing, who could have been surprised?
Hellenica
Xenophon
Shall the vanguard consist of men who are greediest of honour?
The Memorabilia
Xenophon
Yet what of that great oncoming horde of which we were but the vanguard?
The Trail of '98
Robert W. Service

British Dictionary definitions for vanguard

vanguard

noun

the leading division or units of a military force

the leading position in any movement or field, or the people who occupy such a positionthe vanguard of modern literature

Word Origin for vanguard

C15: from Old French avant-garde, from avant- fore- + garde guard

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for vanguard

n.

mid-15c., vaunt garde, from Middle French avant-garde, from avant "in front" (see avant) + garde "guard" (see guard (n.)). Communist revolutionary sense is recorded from 1928.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper