FRONT


Meaning of FRONT in English

I. ˈfrənt noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle English frount, front, from Old French front, from Latin front-, frons — more at brink

1.

a. : forehead , brow

slavery will be branded on our front — W.E.Channing

also : the whole face

tears ran down that noble front

b.

(1) : countenance, demeanor, bearing, or posture especially in the face of danger or other trial

let us … take with unshaken front what comes — Theodore Roosevelt

appeared with dauntless front , accompanied by his paramour — T.B.Macaulay

(2) : the outward, visible, or feigned bearing or behavior of a person as contrasted with his true or essential character, feelings, or condition

the brave front she had maintained so long — T.B.Costain

has good within him, behind a perfectly abominable front — Irving Stone

a perpetually phony front of good fellowship is maintained — V.A.Young

was putting up a front … in order not to distress this girl — Mary R. Rinehart

also : external and often feigned appearance (as of material prosperity or high social position)

very good clothes at bargain prices — important to a man who must maintain a front — R.M.Yoder

(3) : an artificial, affected, or self-important manner : show of vanity or haughtiness : airs

he was very humble and had no front for a prince — Time

(4) : stand or posture in reference to some issue or problem : point of view , outlook , policy , position — chiefly used with change

a change of front was signaled by his offer to come to terms

suddenly changed front and threw in with the opposition

c.

(1) : the foremost rank (as of an army) : van

(2) : a line of battle

(3) often capitalized : a zone of conflict especially between armies

a division going up to the front

(4) : lateral space occupied by a military unit

(5) — used as a military command of execution for individuals to turn their heads straight forward (as after dressing to the right)

ready, front !

(6) — used as a call by a hotel desk clerk in summoning a bellboy

(7) : a sphere or area of conflict or activity

while men are always on fire over their opinions, they are rarely so on more than one front at a time — Curtis Bok

the four fronts are military, economic, political, and psychological — Congressional Record

progress on the educational front

a fairly quiet month on the athletic front — Dartmouth Alumni Magazine

d.

(1) : a coalition or movement linking persons, elements, or groups often of diverse political, ideological, or other tendency in an effort to achieve certain common objectives

common unity and a common front are surely a pressing political need — Christopher Fremantle

announced his purpose to be the erection of a solid front … a hemisphere wholly prepared to consult together for our mutual safety — R.W.Van Alstyne

a united psychiatric front to frustrate the drive of courts and lawyers to make psychiatric testimony conform to antiquated concepts — Edward de Grazia

specifically : a coalition of political parties of diverse ideological or other tendency for the achievement of certain common objectives — usually used with a qualifier

and to create a popular democratic front — Collier's Year Book

the people's fronts represented an intermediate stage between Western and Soviet forms of democracy — Taylor Cole

(2) : a person, group, or thing that is used to cover up or mislead concerning the identity or the usually illegal, harmful, or self-serving true character, purpose, or activity of the actual controlling or directing agent : facade

uses her as a front for his sinister machinations — New York Times Book Review

operated a florist shop as a front — Robert Shaplen

assailed the … nominees as fronts for a party of privilege — Collier's Year Book

all political groups and mass organizations are useful fronts to strengthen the party's influence — N.D.Palmer & South CarolinaLeng

(3) : a person who serves as the official though often only nominal head or spokesman of an enterprise or group to lend it prestige : figurehead

a retired general with an impressive war record made an excellent front for the company

2. : something that confronts or faces forward: as

a.

(1) : a face of a building ; especially : the face that contains the principal entrance

(2) : the part of a theater in front of the curtain ; also : the personnel engaged to work there

(3) : the faceplate of a mortise lock through which the ends of the bolt are projected

(4) : the part of a crab's carapace between the eyes

(5) : frons 2

(6) : the forepart of the chest and forelegs in a quadruped

(7) : the forepart of a garment

a book … propped against his meager front of tweed — James Stern

(8) : shirtfront

(9) : dickey

(10) : the part of the human figure opposite to the back

lying on his front

b.

(1) : the part or surface of something that seems to look out or be directed forward : the fore or forward part

a grasshopper's back is really his front — J.B.S.Haldane

(2) : land that faces or abuts (as on a body of water, a river, a road) : frontage

a lake front

also : a promenade along the beach at a seaside resort

they walked on the front together — W.S.Maugham

(3) : a relatively narrow zone of rock characterized by concentration of some elements or scarcity of others relative to adjacent zones

(4) : the end of a dynamo or motor shaft opposite to the end that carries the pulley or other coupling member

(5) : the side of a paper machine from which it is operated

(6) : the boundary between two dissimilar air masses — see cold front , warm front

(7) : the part of the upper surface of the tongue behind the blade that lies opposite the hard palate when the tongue is at rest

(8) : belly 5d

c. : the first part of something: as

(1) archaic : the first part of a season or other unit of time : beginning

(2) fronts plural : the first portion of a distillate

benzene fronts

d. : something attached to the forepart: as

(1) : false hair worn over the forehead by a woman

(2) : the part of a bridle that crosses the forehead — see bridle illustration

3.

a. : a position directly before or ahead of a person or before the foremost part of a thing

with six seconds to go he forged out in the front of his rivals

a tree stood in the front of the yard

b. : a position of leadership, advantage, or superiority in any field

an indefatigable worker, he rapidly made his way to the front of his profession

- front and center

- in front of

- out front

II. verb

( -ed/-ing/-s )

Etymology: partly from Middle French fronter, from front, n.; partly from front (I)

intransitive verb

1. : to have or turn the face or front in a specified direction : face

the house fronts toward the east

2.

a. : to act as a sponsor, advocate, or spokesman

the persons who had gotten them jobs fronted for them in time of stress — C.R.Cooper

his ability to … front for the United States in world affairs — Time

b. : to serve as a front

fronting for oil interests — Current Biography

the top men in the community have little time for committee meetings; they send a lesser man to front for them — O.S.Strong

transitive verb

1.

a. : to face up to : confront

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

loses his job … and with it his ability to front life benignly — J.P.Bishop

b. : to appear before : meet face-to-face

daily fronted him in some fresh splendor — Alfred Tennyson

2.

a. : to stand in front of : serve as a front to

a lawn fronting a house

b. : to be the leader of (a dance orchestra)

appeared as soloist in reviews, in addition to fronting bands — Esquire's Jazz Book

3. obsolete : begin , introduce , preface

4. : to supply a front to : put a facing upon

fronted the building with brick

5. : to face or look toward : have the front toward, opposite, or over against

the house fronts the street

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

III. adjective

Etymology: front (I)

1. : of or relating to the front or forward part : situated in front

a front view

front seats at the opera

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

ē, ā, s, and p are front sounds

IV. adverb

Etymology: front (I)

: toward, in, or at the front or forward position

a pale boy rose and came front of the class — Willa Cather

those who are older and sit farther front than I do — Henry Hewes

— often used in the phrases up front and out front

a few riflemen might be needed up front later — Combat Forces Journal

way out front in the race — T.M.Pryor

V. abbreviation

frontispiece

VI. transitive verb

1. : advance 4b

fronted them a loan

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

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

intransitive verb

: bluff 2

VII. adjective

: acting as a front

front companies

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.