Pioneer
[paɪə'nɪə] or [,paɪə'nɪr]
Definition
(noun.) one the first colonists or settlers in a new territory; 'they went west as pioneers with only the possessions they could carry with them'.
(noun.) someone who helps to open up a new line of research or technology or art.
(verb.) open up and explore a new area; 'pioneer space'.
(verb.) open up an area or prepare a way; 'She pioneered a graduate program for women students'.
Editor: Stacy--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) A soldier detailed or employed to form roads, dig trenches, and make bridges, as an army advances.
(n.) One who goes before, as into the wilderness, preparing the way for others to follow; as, pioneers of civilization; pioneers of reform.
(v. t. & i.) To go before, and prepare or open a way for; to act as pioneer.
Checked by Curtis
Definition
n. one of a party of soldiers who clear the road before an army sink mines &c.: one who goes before to prepare the way for others.—v.t. to act as pioneer to.—ns. Pī′oner (Shak.) a pioneer; Pī′oning (Spens.) the work of pioneers: military works.
Checked by Lanny
Examples
- The intense enthusiasm of this pioneer beekeeper was contagious and resulted in many taking up beekeeping. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- This was the pioneer of the automatic system which by later improvements is able to send over a thousand words a minute. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Its pioneer form may be traced back to the Middle Ages, when heavy weights were lifted by aid of an apparatus worked by hand power. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- I don't think it signifies two straws about the 'Pioneer,' or Ladislaw, or Brooke's speechifying to the Middlemarchers. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Many of these pioneer students and workmen became afterward large and successful contractors, or have filled positions of distinction as managers and superintendents of central stations. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- As early as 1804, the first company ever organized for gas lighting was formed in London, one side of Pall Mall being lit up by the enthusiastic pioneer, Winsor, in 1807. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- In pioneer times, for example, outside occupations gave a definite and valuable intellectual and moral training. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- It was this expert and this company who pioneered high-conductivity copper for the electrical trade. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- It seems as if I had been pioneered invisibly, as if some dissolving force had gone before me: for myself, I have scarce made an effort. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- It was seen that the volunteers of the Mexican war largely composed the pioneers to settle up the Pacific coast country. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Dowsing, one of the pioneers of electric cooking, exhibited electric cookers and heaters at the Crystal Palace Electrical Exposition in London, was much interest manifested. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- Papin in 1695, Savary in 1698, and Newcomen in 1705, were the pioneers of Watt, and gave to him a good working basis. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- The earliest ships on the sea were either Sumerian or Hamitic; the Semitic peoples followed close upon these pioneers. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- The Androscoggin Pulp Mill, established in Maine in 1870, was one of the pioneers in this field. Edward W. Byrn. The Progress of Invention in the Nineteenth Century.
- Among the pioneers was one which received the round bunch between two compressing jaws, and pressed it flat. William Henry Doolittle. Inventions in the Century.
- They were grateful to those others, the pioneers, the new owners, who had opened out the pits, and let forth this stream of plenty. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- In the housing of the people the telephone is a pioneering agent for better conditions. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
Edited by Clare