FRONT


Meaning of FRONT in English

I. ˈfrənt noun

Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French frunt, front, from Latin front-, frons

Date: 13th century

1.

a. : forehead ; also : the whole face

b. : external and often feigned appearance especially in the face of danger or adversity

2.

a.

(1) : vanguard

(2) : a line of battle

(3) : a zone of conflict between armies

b.

(1) : a stand on an issue : policy

(2) : an area of activity or interest

progress on the educational front

(3) : a movement linking divergent elements to achieve common objectives ; especially : a political coalition

3. : a side of a building ; especially : the side that contains the principal entrance

4.

a. : the forward part or surface

b.

(1) : frontage

(2) : a beach promenade at a seaside resort

c. : dickey 1a

d. : the boundary between two dissimilar air masses

5. archaic : beginning

6.

a.

(1) : a position ahead of a person or of the foremost part of a thing

(2) — used as a call by a hotel desk clerk in summoning a bellhop

b. : a position of leadership or superiority

7.

a. : a person, group, or thing used to mask the identity or true character or activity of the actual controlling agent

b. : a person who serves as the nominal head or spokesman of an enterprise or group to lend it prestige

- in front of

- out front

II. verb

Date: 1523

intransitive verb

1. : to have the front or principal side adjacent to something ; also : to have frontage on something

a ten-acre plot front ing on a lake — Current Biography

2. : to serve as a front

front ing for special interests

transitive verb

1.

a. : confront

went to the woods because I wished…to front only the essential facts of life — H. D. Thoreau

b. : to appear before

daily front ed him in some fresh splendor — Alfred Tennyson

2.

a. : to be in front of

a lawn front ing the house

b. : to be the leader of (a musical group)

appeared as a soloist and front ed bands

3. : to face toward or have frontage on

the house front s the street

4. : to supply a front to

front ed the building with bricks

5.

a. : to articulate (a sound) with the tongue farther forward

b. : to move (a word or phrase) to the beginning of a sentence

6. basketball : to play in front of (an opposing player) rather than between the player and the basket

7. : advance 7

front ed him the cash

III. adjective

Date: 1600

1.

a. : of, relating to, or situated at the front

b. : acting as a front

front company

2. : articulated at or toward the front of the oral passage

front vowels

3. : constituting the first nine holes of an 18-hole golf course

• front adverb

IV. abbreviation

frontispiece

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary.      Энциклопедический словарь английского языка Merriam Webster.