| Noun | 1. | vanguard - the leading units moving at the head of an armyarmy unit - a military unit that is part of an army | |
| 2. | vanguard - any creative group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts) | |
| 3. | vanguard - the position of greatest advancement; the leading position in any movement or fieldperspective, view, position - a way of regarding situations or topics etc.; "consider what follows from the positivist view" | |