Dictionary entry

Forehand

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Fore″hand′ (?), n. 1. All that part of a horse which is before the rider. Johnson.

2. The chief or most important part. Shak.

3. Superiority; advantage; start; precedence.

And, but for ceremony, such a wretch...

Had the forehand and vantage of a king. Shak.