Five short of turning forty-seven, look ahead (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
eyes front
'five short of turning forty-seven look ahead' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'forty-seven look ahead' is the wordplay.
'forty seven' becomes 'eyes' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'look' becomes 'front' ('front' can be a synonym of 'look').
'ahead' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'eyes'+'front'='EYES FRONT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eyes front that I've seen before include "Look straight ahead - that's an order" , "Army order to look straight ahead" , "inspects line of battle" , "Military Command" .)