front runner

• frontrunner, front-runner

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front runner (plural front runners)

1. (idiomatic) Any of the most likely winners in a contest, election, etc.
   • 1955 May 9, "Sport: First-Division Tigers," Time (retrieved 19 May 2014):

     [T]he American League pennant did not shape up as much of a race. There were the Indians and the Yankees, front runners as usual.

   • 2013 Aug. 25, Georgi Kantchev, "World Expositions Can Benefit or Haunt Host Cities," New York Times (retrieved 19 May 2014):

     Dubai, which would be the first host of a world’s fair in the Middle East, has emerged as the front-runner, offering the most financial and governmental support.

2. (finance, business) One who engages in front running.

• frontrunning