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Webster 1913 Edition


Forerun

Fore-run′

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To turn before; to precede; to be in advance of (something following).
2.
To come before as an earnest of something to follow; to introduce as a harbinger; to announce.
These signs
forerun
the death or fall of kings.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition


Forerun

FORERUN'

, v.t.
1.
To advance before; to come before as an earnest of something to follow; to introduce as a harbinger.
Heaviness foreruns the good event.
2.
To precede; to have the start of.

Definition 2024


forerun

forerun

English

Verb

forerun (third-person singular simple present foreruns, present participle forerunning, simple past foreran, past participle forerun)

  1. To run in front.
  2. To precede; to forecast or foreshadow.
    • 1597, William Shakespeare, [II], Act II, Scene 4,
      These signs forerun the death or fall of kings.
    • 1859-85, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "[]", Idylls of the King, Chicago: W.B. Conkey, 1900, pp. 325-6,
      And in herself she moan'd, 'Too late, too late!' / Till in the cold wind that foreruns the morn, / A blot in heaven, the Raven, flying high, / Croak'd, []
    • 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 5,
      Discontent foreran the Two Mutinies, and more or less it lurkingly survived them.