From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishforerunnerfore‧run‧ner /ˈfɔːˌrʌnə $ -ər/ noun [countable] 1 BEFOREsomeone or something that existed before something similar that developed or came laterforerunner of Babbage’s engine was the forerunner of the modern computer.2 WARNa sign or warning that something is going to happen
Examples from the Corpus
forerunner• The P-50 is a forerunner of today's supersonic jet.• Hansen played in the American Basketball League, a forerunner of the NBA.• The ice safe kept in the cellar was a forerunner of today's refrigerator.• Long ago, the forerunner to taekwondo was a military skill, and taekwondo puts fighting theories into practice.• These exercises, known as the 18 hands of Lo-Han, are popularly believed to be the forerunners of Shaolin temple boxing.• Mutual benefit societies were in many ways the forerunners of building societies.• Bloodthirsty wars between cities were the forerunner of the national wars to come.• First, there are the older libraries which were the forerunners of the public libraries.forerunner of• The Warriors started in 1926 as part of the American Basketball League, a forerunner of the NBA.• Cirrus clouds are usually forerunners of a cold front. 