Definition of "front-runner" []

• One that is in a leading position in a race or other competition: the front-runner for the presidential nomination. (noun)
• A competitor who performs best when in the lead. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It was 22-year-old rocker James Durbin of Santa Cruz., Calif., who was dubbed a front-runner though."
• "For days, Mr. Monti, 68, a well-respected economist with close ties to European Union officials, has been identified as the front-runner."
• "Romney hasn't even gotten to be called the front-runner very often without some diminishing adjective "putative," "apparent," "seeming" thrown in."