Vanguard

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.


     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  vanguard
       n 1: the leading units moving at the head of an army [syn: {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}, {van}, {new
          wave}]
       3: the position of greatest advancement; the leading position
          in any movement or field [syn: {forefront}, {cutting edge}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  81 Moby Thesaurus words for "vanguard":
     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