Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An advance token or warning.
  • noun A slight taste or sample in anticipation of something to come.
  • transitive verb To have an anticipatory taste of.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To taste before possession; have previous experience of; enjoy by anticipation.
  • To taste before another.
  • noun A taste beforehand; anticipation; enjoyment in advance.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A taste beforehand; enjoyment in advance; anticipation.
  • transitive verb To taste before full possession; to have previous enjoyment or experience of; to anticipate.
  • transitive verb To taste before another.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A taste beforehand; foresmack.
  • noun A sample taken in anticipation; enjoyment taken in advance.
  • verb transitive To taste beforehand.
  • verb transitive To taste before possession; have previous experience of; enjoy by anticipation.
  • verb transitive To taste before another.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an early limited awareness of something yet to occur

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From fore- +‎ taste.

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Examples

  • It is generally described as a foretaste of what is called the Romantic movement.

    English Literature and Society in the Eighteenth Century Leslie Stephen 1868

  • It was a forescent -- even this could not be called a foretaste, of the kingdom of heaven; but Florimel never thought of the kingdom of heaven, the ideal of her own existence.

    The Marquis of Lossie George MacDonald 1864

  • [216] His desire was for the spiritual body, raised in power and incorruption at the day of Christ; and, meanwhile, for that personal perfection in measure and foretaste, which is prepared for those who die in the Lord, and await His coming.

    Sermons. Volume Third. 1808-1892 1847

  • Satisfied with labouring faithfully in his vocation, the good man committed his cause to God, and found, in the refreshing recollections of self-satisfaction, and in the calm repose that followed a harassing day, spent in the performance of his manifold duties, a reward which might be termed a foretaste of heaven.

    The Loyalists, Vol. 1-3 An Historical Novel Jane West 1805

  • (through consciousness of deserving it), has it even now, that is, the foretaste of it.

    Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible 1871

  • But what that means is that when, in our present history, you can say of someone that they 'know the Lord', what's happening is an anticipation of the end of time, when real justice happens: it's a kind of foretaste of what Christians call 'the Kingdom'.

    South Africa - No-one can be forgotten in God's Kingdom 2007

  • Reply Obj. 1: That manifestation of Christ's birth was a kind of foretaste of the full manifestation which was to come.

    Summa Theologica, Part III (Tertia Pars) From the Complete American Edition Aquinas Thomas

  • If overnight, one would spend some very delightful hours in drifting about Chioggia itself, which is a kind of foretaste of Venice, although not like enough to her to impair the surprise.

    A Wanderer in Venice Harry [Illustrator] Morley 1903

  • Mr. Abbey is still young, he is full of ideas and intentions, and the work he has done may, in view of his time of life, of his opportunities and the singular completeness of his talent, be regarded really as a kind of foretaste and prelude.

    Picture and Text 1893 Henry James 1879

  • The past tense implies at the same time the certainty of it, as also that in this life a kind of foretaste in Christ is already given [Grotius] (Jer 6: 16; Mt 11: 28, 29).

    Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible 1871

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