forerun
Americanverb (used with object)
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to run in front of; come before; precede.
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to be the precursor or harbinger of; prefigure.
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to anticipate or foretell.
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to forestall.
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to outrun or outstrip.
verb
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to serve as a herald for
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to go before; precede
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to prevent or forestall
Etymology
Origin of forerun
1505–15; fore- + run; probably not continuous with Middle English forerennen (intransitive) to run ahead, Old English fōryrnan
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.
It may, however, forerun a wartime wave of back-to-the-bed "escape" novels.
From Time Magazine Archive
Even so, it is not quick enough, I fear, to forerun the whims of goddesses.
From Jurgen A Comedy of Justice by Cabell, James Branch
Woe to light hearts, they still forerun our fall!
From The White Devil by Webster, John
The necessities of the old man prefigure and forerun the dawn of the immortal childhood.
From Adela Cathcart, Volume 3 by MacDonald, George
Peace, untaught Groome, My heart's so great that Ide forerun my doome.
From A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 4 by Bullen, A. H. (Arthur Henry)
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.
