Adjacent Words

vanguard definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the leading units moving at the head of an army [syn: vanguard, van]
2: any creative group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts) [syn: avant-garde, vanguard, van, new wave]
3: the position of greatest importance or advancement; the leading position in any movement or field; "the Cotswolds were once at the forefront of woollen manufacturing in England"; "the idea of motion was always to the forefront of his mind and central to his philosophy" [syn: vanguard, forefront, cutting edge]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English vauntgard, from Anglo-French vantgarde, avantgarde, from avant- fore- (from avant before, from Late Latin abante) + garde guard — more at advance Date: 15th century 1. the troops moving at the head of an army 2. the forefront of an action or movement • vanguardism noun • vanguardist noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the foremost part of an army or fleet advancing or ready to advance. 2 the leaders of a movement or of opinion etc. Etymology: earlier vandgard, (a)vantgard, f. OF avan(t)garde f. avant before (see AVAUNT) + garde GUARD

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Vanguard Van"guard`, n. [For vantguard, avantguard, F. avant-garde; avant before, fore + garde guard. See Avant, Ab-,Ante-, and Guard, and cf. Advance, Vamp, Van of an army, Vaward.] (Mil.) The troops who march in front of an army; the advance guard; the van.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. If someone is in the vanguard of something such as a revolution or an area of research, they are involved in the most advanced part of it. You can also refer to the people themselves as the vanguard. Such thinking puts Kodak in the vanguard of a movement reshaping the computer industry... ...the role of the Party as the political vanguard. N-SING: usu the N, oft in the N of n 2. The vanguard of an army is the part of it that goes into battle first. ...a force of mobile reserve units that could strike quickly and effectively at the vanguard of an invading army. N-SING: the N

Moby Thesaurus

advance guard, airhead, ancestor, announcer, antecedent, armed guard, avant-garde, bank guard, battle line, beachhead, bellwether, bridgehead, buccinator, bushwhacker, coast guard, cordon, cordon sanitaire, explorer, farthest outpost, first line, forebear, forefront, foregoer, forerunner, front, front line, front rank, front runner, front-runner, frontiersman, fugleman, garrison, goalie, goalkeeper, goaltender, groundbreaker, guard, guarder, guardsman, guide, harbinger, herald, inlying picket, innovation, innovator, jailer, latest fad, latest fashion, latest wrinkle, lead runner, leader, line, messenger, new look, newfangled device, novelty, outguard, outpost, pathfinder, picket, pioneer, point, precedent, precursor, predecessor, railhead, rear guard, scout, security guard, spearhead, stormy petrel, the in thing, the last word, the latest thing, trailblazer, trailbreaker, train guard, van, vaunt-courier, voortrekker, warder