Forerunner
['fɔːrʌnə] or ['fɔr'rʌnɚ]
Definition
(n.) A messenger sent before to give notice of the approach of others; a harbinger; a sign foreshowing something; a prognostic; as, the forerunner of a fever.
(n.) A predecessor; an ancestor.
(n.) A piece of rag terminating the log line.
Edited by Colin
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Precursor, harbinger, herald, foregoer, avant-courier.[2]. Prelude, prognostic, sign, omen.
Edited by Antony
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Predecessor, precursor, harbinger, herald, omen, Avant-courier
ANT:Successor, follower
Editor: Noreen
Examples
- This toy in turn was the forerunner of the Zoetrope, or so-called Wheel of Life, which was introduced into this country about the year 1845. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- I do not think the sunny youth of either will prove the forerunner of stormy age. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- The historian of political forms may see in the town meeting a forerunner of direct legislation. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- It was a vile pseudo sentiment--the offspring or the forerunner of evil. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- The Emperor Frederick II, with his epistles to his fellow princes, was its forerunner. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The steam turbine is very much more efficient than its forerunner, the steam engine. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- They knew how to sweat, dry, and smoke the skins, and this crude seasoning process was the forerunner of modern tanning. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- That vision was the forerunner of the Addressograph. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- It will be the forerunner also of other interesting events: your sister's marriage, and your taking orders. Jane Austen. Mansfield Park.
- It seemed like the forerunner of something absolutely serious, which she did not wish. Jane Austen. Emma.
- So it also is in regard to the mimeograph, whose forerunner, the electric pen, was born of Edison's brain in 1877. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- In other words, he had found the forerunner of wireless telegraphy. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- These curious and interesting structures, which may be considered the forerunners of the gigantic iron Tubular Bridges of the present day, were burnt by the French in 1799. Frederick C. Bakewell. Great Facts.
- We incline to account for it by attributing congenital stupidity to our forerunners and by assuming superior native intelligence on our own part. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- Earliest Implements and Processes Forerunners of Modern Inventions. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
Checker: Tina