getting ahead of
Moving before someone
Getting ahead of means positioning yourself in front of something—literally or figuratively—before it arrives or develops.
You might get ahead of traffic by leaving early, or get ahead of a problem by addressing it before it worsens: We need to get ahead of this story before the press runs with it.
To get ahead of oneself is to act prematurely or assume outcomes not yet secured: Let's not get ahead of ourselves—we haven't won yet.
- anticipatingExpecting something to happen
- outpacingExceeding another's speed
- preemptingActing to prevent beforehand
- jumping the gunActing before appropriate time
- circumventingAvoiding by going around
beating to the punch · surpassing · overtaking · progressing · excelling · predicting · foreseeing · outperforming · achieving · outmaneuvering · cutting in line · planning · forestalling · eclipsing · envisioning · strategizing · curve ball · leading
getting ahead offalling behind
lagging behind · trailing · losing ground · trailing behind · falling back
gotten, ahead, head, heads, headed, heading, headfirst, headlong, beheading