(~s, ~ing, ~ed)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
Note: In addition to the uses shown below, '~' is also used in phrasal verbs such as ‘bring ~’ and ‘look ~ to’. In British English, '~s' is often used as an adverb instead of '~' in senses 1, 3, and 6.
1.
If you move or look ~, you move or look in a direction that is in front of you. In British English, you can also move or look ~s.
He came ~ with his hand out. ‘Mr and Mrs Selby?’ he enquired...
She fell ~s on to her face...
? backwards
ADV: ADV after v
2.
Forward means in a position near the front of something such as a building or a vehicle.
The best seats are in the aisle and as far ~ as possible...
The other car had a 3-inch lower driving seat and had its engine mounted further ~.
ADV: be ADV, ADV after v
•
Forward is also an adjective.
Reinforcements were needed to allow more troops to move to ~ positions.
ADJ: ADJ n
3.
If you say that someone looks ~, you approve of them because they think about what will happen in the future and plan for it. In British English, you can also say that someone looks ~s.
Now the leadership wants to look ~, and to outline a strategy for the rest of the century...
People should forget and look ~s...
Manchester United has always been a ~-looking club.
ADV: usu ADV after v, also ADV adj approval
•
Forward is also an adjective.
The university system requires more ~ planning.
ADJ: ADJ n
4.
If you put a clock or watch ~, you change the time shown on it so that it shows a later time, for example when the time changes to summer time or daylight saving time.
When we put the clocks ~ in March we go into British Summer Time.
ADV: ADV after v
5.
When you are referring to a particular time, if you say that something was true from that time ~, you mean that it became true at that time, and continued to be true afterwards.
Velazquez’s work from that time ~ was confined largely to portraits of the royal family.
= on
ADV: from n ADV
6.
You use ~ to indicate that something progresses or improves. In British English, you can also use ~s.
And by boosting economic prosperity in Mexico, Canada and the United States, it will help us move ~ on issues that concern all of us...
They just couldn’t see any way ~...
Space scientists and astronomers have taken another step ~s.
ADV: ADV after v, n ADV
7.
If something or someone is put ~, or comes ~, they are suggested or offered as suitable for a particular purpose.
Over the years several similar theories have been put ~...
Next month the Commission is to bring ~ its first proposals for action...
He was putting himself ~ as a Democrat...
Investigations have ground to a standstill because no witnesses have come ~.
ADV: ADV after v
8.
If a letter or message is ~ed to someone, it is sent to the place where they are, after having been sent to a different place earlier.
When he’s out on the road, office calls are ~ed to the cellular phone in his truck...
VERB: be V-ed from/to n, also V n, V n from/to n
9.
In football, basketball, or hockey, a ~ is a player whose usual position is in the opponents’ half of the field, and whose usual job is to attack or score goals.
N-COUNT
see also centre-~
10.
backwards and ~s: see backwards