gets aheadphrasepresent tense third-person singular of get ahead
to reach a desired level of accomplishmenta recent college graduate trying to get ahead in the working world
arrives, flourishes, prospers, succeeds, thrives
prevails, triumphs, winsexcels
comes into one's own, cuts it, cuts the mustard, gets somewhere, gets there, hacks it, hits it big, makes good, makes it, makes one's mark, makes the grade