pull ahead

verb

pulled ahead; pulling ahead; pulls ahead
: to take the lead in a race, competition, contest, etc.
The two runners were side by side until one pulled ahead.
—often + of
He has pulled ahead of the other candidates in the election polls.

Examples of pull ahead in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The game then got away from the Heat in the third quarter, as the Hornets pulled ahead by as many as 23 points in the period and entered the fourth quarter with a 21-point lead. — Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 25 Oct. 2026 But, over the summer, polls began to show his lead narrowing, and in mid-September Hinojosa pulled ahead. — Stephania Taladrid, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2026 The United States invented the airplane but had no national aviation policy, and Europe was pulling ahead. — Neil Chatterjee, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026 Looking just at Planet 1 for a moment, it will be pulled ahead by Planet 2’s gravity, giving it more orbital energy. — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 16 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for pull ahead

Cite this Entry

“Pull ahead.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pull%20ahead. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster