Meanings
- Prior to an expected or scheduled time; early.
He navigated the course adeptly, having trained on it for months ahead of time.
2 more examples
But from Northallerton No. 46143 reached 65½ m.p.h. by Otterington, 73 by Thirsk, 79½ by Pilmoor, and 82½ by Alne and was still accelerating when it was decided on the footplate that the train was getting too much ahead of time—and no wonder, with 40 min. allowed for the level 30.0 miles from Northallerton to York!—so that the engine was drastically eased.
1958 December 28, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 852In the future, if you know that you're going to be mixing inviteds and uninviteds while out, call them all ahead of time to caution the inviteds against talking about the wedding and to tell the uninviteds about your guest list so they know you didn't forget about them […]
2011, Sam Scholfield, Awkward.: What to Do When Life Makes You Cringe-A Survival GuideSynonyms: in advance, beforehand, AOT
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phrasePrior to an expected or scheduled time; early.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Translations
Finnish etuajassa, ennen aikojaan
- etuajassaearly
- ennen aikojaanearly
- etukäteenearly
- ennaltaearly
French à l'avance
- à l'avanceearly
German frühzeitig, vorzeitig
- frühzeitigearly
- vorzeitigearly
Polish z wyprzedzeniem, zawczasu
- z wyprzedzeniemearly
- zawczasuearly
Cite this entry
ahead of time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ahead%20of%20time
“ahead of time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ahead%20of%20time. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ahead of time,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ahead%20of%20time.
Source: ahead of time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.