at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time; "early morning"; "an early warning"; "early diagnosis"; "an early death"; "took early retirement"; "an early spring"; "early varieties of peas and tomatoes mature before most standard varieties"
being or occurring at an early stage of development; "in an early stage"; "early forms of life"; "early man"; "an early computer"
of an early stage in the development of a language or literature; "the Early Hebrew alphabetical script is that used mainly from the 11th to the 6th centuries B.C."; "Early Modern English is represented in documents printed from 1476 to 1700"
very young; "at an early age"
expected in the near future; "look for an early end to the negotiations"
before the usual time or the time expected; "she graduated early"; "the house was completed ahead of time"
the person who plays the position of forward on a basketball team
moving toward a position ahead; "forward motion"; "the onward course of events"
at or near or directed toward the front; "the forward section of the aircraft"; "a forward plunge down the stairs"; "forward motion"
of the transmission gear causing forward movement in a motor vehicle; "in a forward gear"
used of temperament or behavior; lacking restraint or modesty; "a forward child badly in need of discipline"
at or to or toward the front; "he faced forward"; "step forward"; "she practiced sewing backward as well as frontward on her new sewing machine"; (`forrad' and `forrard' are dialectal variations)
send or ship onward from an intermediate post or station in transit; "forward my mail"