/ feɪs; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
FRONT OF HEAD
1.
the front part of the head between the forehead and the chin :
a pretty / round / freckled face
He buried his face in his hands.
You should have seen the look on her face when I told her!
The expression on his face never changed.
EXPRESSION
2.
an expression that is shown on sb's face :
a sad / happy / smiling face
Her face lit up (= showed happiness) when she spoke of the past.
His face fell (= showed disappointment, sadness, etc.) when he read the headlines.
Sue's face was a picture (= she looked very surprised, angry, etc.) as she listened to her husband's speech.
-FACED
3.
(in adjectives) having the type of face or expression mentioned :
pale-faced
grim-faced
PERSON
4.
(in compounds) used to refer to a person of the type mentioned :
She looked around for a familiar face .
a well-known face on our television screens
It's nice to see some new faces here this evening.
I'm fed up of seeing the same old faces every time we go out!
SIDE / SURFACE
5.
a side or surface of sth :
the north face of the mountain
The birds build their nests in the rock face.
How many faces does a cube have?
—see also coalface
FRONT OF CLOCK
6.
the front part of a clock or watch
—picture at grandfather clock
CHARACTER / ASPECT
7.
face of sth the particular character of sth :
the changing face of Britain
8.
face of sth a particular aspect of sth :
the unacceptable face of capitalism
—see also in-your-face , typeface , volte-face
•
IDIOMS
- disappear / vanish off the face of the earth
- sb's face doesn't fit
- sb's face is like thunder | sb has a face like thunder
- face to face (with sb)
- face to face with sth
- face up / down
- have the face to do sth
- in sb's face
- in the face of sth
- lose face
- on the face of it
- pull / make faces / a face (at sb)
- put your face on
- set your face against sb/sth
- to sb's face
- what's his / her face
—more at blow verb , blue adjective , brave adjective , door noun , feed verb , egg noun , eye noun , flat adverb , fly verb , laugh verb , long adjective , nose noun , plain adjective , pretty adjective , save verb , show verb , shut verb , slap noun , stare verb , straight noun , wipe verb , write
■ verb
BE OPPOSITE
1.
to be opposite sb/sth; to have your face or front pointing towards sb/sth or in a particular direction :
[ vn ]
She turned and faced him.
Most of the rooms face the sea.
[ v + adv. / prep. ]
The terrace faces south.
a north-facing wall
Stand with your feet apart and your hands facing upwards.
Which direction are you facing?
SB / STH DIFFICULT
2.
[ vn ] if you face a particular situation, or it faces you, you have to deal with it :
the problems faced by one-parent families
The company is facing a financial crisis.
She's faced with a difficult decision.
3.
[ vn ] to accept that a difficult situation exists, although you would prefer not to :
It's not always easy to face the truth.
She had to face the fact that her life had changed forever.
Face facts —she isn't coming back.
Let's face it , we're not going to win.
4.
if you can't face sth unpleasant, you feel unable or unwilling to deal with it :
[ vn ]
I just can't face work today.
[ v -ing ]
I can't face seeing them.
5.
[ vn ] to talk to or deal with sb, even though this is difficult or unpleasant :
How can I face Tom? He'll be so disappointed.
COVER SURFACE
6.
[ vn ] [ usually passive ] to cover a surface with another material :
a brick building faced with stone
•
IDIOMS
- face the music
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- face sb down
- face off
- face up to sth
••
VOCABULARY BUILDING
expressions on your face
To beam is to have a big happy smile on your face.
To frown is to make a serious, angry or worried expression by bringing your eyebrows closer together so that lines appear on your forehead.
To glare or glower is to look in an angry, aggressive way.
To grimace is to make an ugly expression with your face to show pain, disgust, etc.
To scowl is to look at someone in an angry or annoyed way.
To smirk is to smile in a silly or unpleasant way that shows that you are pleased with yourself, know something that other people do not know, etc.
To sneer is to show that you have no respect for someone by turning your upper lip upwards.
These words can also be used as nouns:
She looked up with a puzzled frown.
•
He gave me an icy glare.
•
a grimace of pain.
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English : from Old French , based on Latin facies form, appearance, face.