vanguard

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: van=guard

CIDE DICTIONARY

vanguard, 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.].

 The troops who march in front of an army; the advance guard; the van.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

vanguard, n.
1 the foremost part of an army or fleet advancing or ready to advance.
2 the leaders of a movement or of opinion etc.

Etymology

earlier vandgard, (a)vantgard, f. OF avan(t)garde f. avant before (see AVAUNT) + garde GUARD

THESAURUS

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

ROGET THESAURUS

vanguard

Front

N front, fore, forepart, foreground, face, disk, disc, frontage, facade, proscenium, facia, frontispiece, anteriority, obverse (of a medal or coin), fore rank, front rank, van, vanguard, advanced guard, outpost, first line, scout, brow, forehead, visage, physiognomy, phiz, countenance, mut, rostrum, beak, bow, stem, prow, prore, jib, pioneer, metoposcopy, fore, anterior, front, frontal, before, in front, in the van, in advance, ahead, right ahead, forehead, foremost, in the foreground, in the lee of, before one's face, before one's eyes, face to face, vis-a-vis, front a front, formosa muta commendatio est, frons est animi janua, Human face divine, imago animi vultus est indices oculi, sea of upturned faces.