▪ I. face, n.
(feɪs)
Also 4 faas, 4–5 fas(e, 5 faz.
[a. Fr. face, corresp. to Pr. fassa, It. faccia:— popular Lat. facia, altered form of faciēs form, figure, appearance, hence face, visage, represented directly by Pr. fatz, Sp. faz, haz, Pg. face. The etymology of L. faciēs is uncertain: some scholars refer it to facĕre to make; others to the root fa- to appear, shine (cf. fac-em torch).
The general sense ‘form, appearance’, which in Latin was app. the source of the more specific use ‘visage, countenance’, is in many of its Eng. applications apprehended as a transferred use of the latter, and has received a special colouring from this association. On this account the more restricted sense is here placed first.]
I. 1. The front part of the head, from the forehead to the chin; the visage, countenance: a. in man. (In Anat. sometimes with narrowed sense, as excluding the forehead: see quot. 1831.)
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. 169/2178 More blod þar nas in al is face. 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 772 Als a man waxes alde..his face rouncles ay mare and mare. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2460 Vp þey sterte euerechon; & be-held him on þe fas. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 141 The secunde chapitle of woundes of þe face. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 3 My face thou may not se. 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. ii. i. 75 Their Hats are pluckt about their Eares, And halfe their Faces buried in their Cloakes. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 600 His face Deep scars of Thunder had intrencht. 1707 Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 374 Uneasiness from dryness and redness of the Face. 1759 Sterne Tr. Shandy i. xxi, The least hint of it was enough to make the blood fly into his face. 1762 Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1765) I. ii. 24 Such pyramids on their heads, that the face became the center of the body. 1831 R. Knox Cloquet's Anat. 95 The Face, properly speaking..extends vertically from the upper edge of the nasal bones to the chin. |
b. in lower animals.
| 1535 Coverdale Job xli. 14 Who openeth the dore of his face? for he hath horrible tethe rounde aboute. 1611 Bible Ezek. x. 14 The face of a lion, and..the face of an eagle. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 532 His grim Face a Bull's Resemblance bears. 1741 Chambers Cycl., Face,..sometimes called bill, or beak; sometimes snout, etc. 1784 Cowper Task v. 785 Brutes graze the mountain-top, with faces prone. 1845 S. Palmer Pentaglot Dict. s.v., The face of birds comprehends the ophthalmic regions, cheeks, temples, forehead, and vertex;—of insects, all the parts situated between the labrum and prothorax. |
c. transf. A representation of a human visage.
| 1488 Ld. Treas. Acct. Scot. (1877) I. 85 Item, a ring with a face. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 649 He's a..Painter, for he makes faces. 1623 Webster Duchess of Malfi iii. iii, That cardinal hath made more bad faces with his oppression than ever Michael Angelo made good ones. 1716 Pope's Wks., Basset-Table 33 Upon the bottom [of an Equipage] shines the Queen's bright Face. 1801 Sporting Mag. XVIII. 100 No face but his own; a saying of one who has no money in his pocket, nor no court cards in his hand. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra I. 111 Carved with fruits and flowers, inter⁓mingled with grotesque masks or faces. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 503 Walker had arrived in London..His face was in every print shop. |
d. In popular names of plants, as
face and hood,
three († two) faces in, under a (one) hood, the heart's-ease, pansy (
Viola tricolor);
face-in-hood, the aconite (
Aconitum Napellus).
| 1548 Turner Names of Herbes (E.D.S.) 87 Trinitatis herba..is called in english two faces in a hoode or panses. 1562 W. Bullein Bk. Simples 39 a, Paunsis, or three faces in one hodde. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Hearts-ease..an Herb called..Three Faces in a Hood..or Pansies. 1771 R. Warner Plantæ Woodford. 185 Heart's-ease. Three Faces under a Hood. 1878–86 Britten & Holland Eng. Plant-n., Face and Hood (Viola tricolor). Ibid., Face-in-hood (Aconitum Napellus). |
e. A slang term of address.
| 1923 Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves xvii. 232, I ran into young Bingo Little... ‘Hello, face,’ I said. ‘Cheerio, ugly,’ said young Bingo. 1938 D. Smith Dear Octopus i. 38 Come on, face—don't get mopey. |
f. Used with varying contextual degrees of contempt, admiration, etc.: a person.
slang.| 1945 L. Shelly Jive Talk Dict. 11/1 Face, a white man. 1964 New Statesman 10 Apr. 555/2 A ‘face’ is a person, usually someone worthy of admiration. 1964 Observer 24 May 12/5 Fashions are usually started by Faces—the name for trend-pushing Mods. 1967 J. Morgan Involved 80 Now this face was the ideal man for me to have a deal with. |
2. Phrases.
a. † from face to foot = ‘from head to foot’.
† to know no faces: to have no respect of persons.
to have two faces: to be guilty of duplicity; (of speech) to be ambiguous. In same sense,
† to bear or carry two faces under one hood.
to open one's face (
U.S. slang): to open the mouth, to speak;
to shut one's face (
slang): to keep quiet (
esp. imp.).
to laugh on the other side of one's face: see
laugh v. 1 b.
| c 1475 Pol. Poems in Archæol. XXIX. 341 Two fases in a hode is neuer to tryst. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 138 Thou berest two faces in one whood. 1580 North Plutarch (1676) 224 Icetes had carried two faces in one hood, and..was become a Traytor. 1607 Shakes. Cor. ii. ii. 112 From face to foot He was a thing of Blood. 1633 Earl of Manchester Al Mondo (1636) 24 Disease and Death know no faces. 1889 Barrie Window in Thrums 196 Persons whose speech had two faces. 1893 S. Crane Maggie (1896) ix. 73 Shet yer face, an' come home, yeh old fool! 1896 Ade Artie iii. 26 If you open your face to this lady again tonight, I'll separate you from your breath. 1899 C. Rook Hooligan Nights ii. 29 ‘That's awright,’ muttered young Alf. ‘You shut yer face.’ 1913 D. H. Lawrence Love Poems 53 An' stop thy scraightin', childt. Do shut thy face. 1917 U. Sinclair King Coal ii. 186 The marshal bade him ‘shut his face’. 1939 Best Short Stories 45 ‘Shut your daft grinning face,’ growled Arthur. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 194 ‘Shut your chops’, ‘shut yer face’. |
b. to look (a person, etc.) in the face: to confront, meet with a steady gaze that implies courage, confidence, or (sometimes) defiance; also
fig. to shew one's face: to put in an appearance, to appear:
lit. and
fig.| 1537 Thersites in Hazl. Dodsley I. 408 Appear, sir, I pray you, dare ye not show your face? 1561 Norton & Sackv. Gorboduc i. i, Aurore..for love or shame Doth long delay to show her blushing face. 1566 Gascoigne, etc. Jocasta ii. ii, Boldly to looke our foemen in the face. a 1662 Heylin Laud ii. v. (1719) 20, I dare look Death in the Face, and I hope the People too. 1706 ? Swift Wks. (1883) X. 389 Where exiled wit ne'er shews its face. 1748 Richardson Clarissa Wks. 1883 V. 56, I should be ashamed to show my face in public. 1780 Cowper Table-t. 321 When Tumult..dared to look his master in the face. 1841 Longfellow Village Blacksmith ii, He..looks the whole world in the face, For he owes not any man. 1863 Kingsley Water-bab. vi. (1869) 250 The fairy looked him full in the face. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. iii. 118 Too clear to be misunderstood by anyone who looks the evidence in the face. 1882 Stevenson New Arab. Nts. (1884) 194 He never so much as showed face at a window. |
c. In
advb. phr.:
face downwards (foremost, uppermost), etc.: with the face in the direction indicated.
(to fall) face on:
= ‘face downwards’.
| 1856 Leisure Ho. V. 332/1 He fell face on into the water. |
d. face to (earlier † and, † for) face: looking one another in the face; also
attrib. face to face with: looking in the face of, confronting;
lit. and
fig. to see face to († with) face: ‘without the interposition of other bodies’ (J.), clearly. Also
face-to-face,
face-to-faceness ns.,
face-to-facedly adv.| a 1300 Cursor M. 23607 (Cott.) Þair ioi, þair gladdscip, qua can tell..face wit face þat godd to se. 1340 Ayenb. 88 We him ssolle yzy face to face clyerlyche. a 1400–50 Alexander 357 Make þe to se þe same gode & þi-selfe wakand Face to face all his fourme. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 255 The proud Pechtis..face for face stude in thair fais sicht. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 2 Of these matters..we shall talke shortly face to face. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 490 Sir Walter Aston..spoke seriously face to face with him there-anent. 1767 Gray in Corr. N. Nicholls (1843) 69, I am come..to congratulate you face to face on your good luck. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 600 The two armies were now face to face. 1861 T. A. Trollope La Beata I. vii. 155 The painter and the customer might never come face to face after all. 1864 Knight Passages Wrkg. Life I. i. 105, I was..to be face to face with great public things. 1874 W. Wallace Logic of Hegel xviii. p. cxxxiv, In both there is the same statement of immediacy or face-to-faceness. 1875 Manning Mission H. Ghost ix. 260 We shall see God face to face. 1876 Gentl. Mag. Feb. 212 The applause thus..publicly and face-to-facedly showered upon it. 1879 Froude Cæsar i. 5 When we are face to face with real men. a 1916 H. James Sense of Past (1917) 335 His disconcerted and practically defeated face-to-faceness with the way in which they do take it [sc. his modernism]. 1960 Economist 31 Dec. 1395/2 This biographical ‘face-to-face’. |
| attrib. 1833 J. Nyren Young Cricketer's Tutor 59 He was a good face-to-face, unflinching, uncompromising, independent man. 1858 J. Martineau Stud. Chr. 172 We are liable to lose the solemn face-to-face reality of the strife within us. 1864 J. H. Newman Apol. 379 The face-to-face antagonist. 1865 Masson Rec. Brit. Philos. iv. 319 We possess an intuitive, or face-to-face knowledge of certain properties of matter. 1949 M. Mead in M. Fortes Social Structure 23 A regiment of soldiers, all from..the occident, come into face-to-face relations with non-occidental people. 1952 W. J. H Sprott Social Psychol. 257 Improved social relations in face-to-face groups were found salutary in dealing with mental illness. 1956 J. Whatmough Language 12 There is a greater time-lag in a printed book, as in a recording, than there is in face-to-face talk. 1971 Times 8 Jan. 2/4 A combination of radio, correspondence courses and face-to-face teaching. |
e. Mil. In words of command;
† faces to the right,
left,
faces about = right, left, about face (
cf. face v. 9 b); also
fig. Hence,
to turn face about,
† again.
| 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. iii. i, Good Captayne, faces about, to some other discourse. 1625 Markham Souldiers Accid. 20 Faces to the right hand. Faces to the left. Faces about, or Faces to Reare. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 77 He turned face againe with sword in hand. 1642 Lanc. Tracts (Chetham Soc.) 65 They..turned faces about, and began to make head against us. 1881 G. W. Cable Mad. Delphine viii. 45 It had..turned him face about from the way of destruction. |
f. to throw, thrust, etc. (something) in (a person's) face.
lit. and
fig.| 1602 Shakes. Ham. ii. ii. 599 Who calles me Villaine? breakes my pate a-crosse? Pluckes off my Beard, and blowes it in my face? c 1645 Howell Lett. (1655) iv. xxi. 58 Who taints his soul may be said to throw dirt in Gods face. 1760 Gray Lett. Wks. 1884 III. 53 You see him [Sterne]..ready to throw his periwig in the face of his audience. 1852 Thackeray Esmond i. xiv, ‘I fling the words in your face, my lord.’ 1856 Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh ii. Wks. VI. 76 God..thrusts the thing we have prayed for in our face. 1884 M. E. Braddon Ishmael xxxi, His success was cast in his face as a reproach. |
g. In various Biblical Hebraisms.
before the face of: before, in advance of, in front of.
to set one's face: to give a settled bearing or expression to the countenance.
to put, set one's face against: to take up an attitude of determined hostility towards.
to set (one's) face † for,
to,
towards: to take, etc. the direction of (a place);
fig. to purpose, take the first steps
to,
towards.
to grind the faces of: see
grind v.
1 2 b.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 22757 (Cott.) Be-for þe face o þat kaiser angels sal his baner bere. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 9, I send..my messager Bifor thi face thi word to ber. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xvii. 46, I sall less þaim as dust bifore þe face of wynd. 1388 Wyclif Lev. xx. 3 Y schal sette faste [1382 putte] my face aȝens hym. 1535 Coverdale Mark i. 2, I sende my messaunger before thy face. [So in 1611 and 1881.] 1611 Bible Gen. xxxi. 21 He..set his face toward the mount Gilead. ― 2 Kings xii. 17 Hazael set his face to goe vp to Ierusalem. ― Isa. l. 7 Therefore haue I set my face like a flint. 1624 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 11 Set your faces..against a whole faction of vice. 1632 Lithgow Trav. x. 493, I set face from Court for Scotland. 1664 G. Etherege Com. Revenge iv. vii, Set thy face then; let me not see the remains of one poor smile. 1781 Cowper Expost. 457 The poorest of the flock Are proud, and set their faces as a rock. 1827 Scott Jrnl. (1890) II. 21, I can set my face to it boldly. a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1873) III. v. 469 The first duty of every one is to set his face in direct opposition to what he believes to be false. 1862 Lowell Biglow P. Poems 1890 II. 326 It's high time..to be settin' our faces Towards reconstructin' the national basis. 1884 Times (weekly ed.) 3 Oct. 14/2 We set our faces to the South. |
3. a. Viewed with reference to beauty.
† to be in face: to be looking one's best (
cf. to be in voice).
† full of face: ? beautiful (but
perh. the meaning is
= ‘full faced, florid’).
In the
A.V. only in the Apocrypha; the translators of the canonical books always use ‘countenance’ in this connexion.
| 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. iii. i. 103 Say they haue Angells faces. 1608 ― Per. i. Induct., A female heir, So buxom blithe, and full of face. 1611 Bible Judith xi. 21 There is not such a woman from one end of the earth to the other..for beautie of face. 1712–4 Pope Rape Lock i. 79 Some nymphs there are, too conscious of their face. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. i. i, Is it one of my well-looking days child? am I in face to day? 1842 Tennyson Sisters 2 She was the fairest in the face. 1851 Procter (Barry Cornwall) Songs lxxxiii. 3 No wealth had she of mind or face To win our love, or raise our pride. |
b. Make-up, cosmetics;
esp. in
phrs. to do or to put on one's (or a) face: (of a woman) to apply cosmetics.
colloq. (
Occas. used of a bag containing cosmetic materials.)
| 1923 W. S. Maugham Our Betters i. 45 A wonderful woman who comes every morning to do my face. 1946 G. Millar Horned Pigeon xx. 327 She uncovered a dressing-case of..obvious costliness... ‘You don't intend to leave that thing lying around?’ ‘Why not?.. It's my face.’ 1957 J. Frame Owls do Cry I. xiv. 62 How dare you watch me put on my face. 1961 Guardian 25 Sept. 3/2 My hair is wrecked and my ‘face’ totally removed. 1963 A. Lubbock Austral. Roundabout 10 My ‘face’, a small bag with make-up and washing things. 1966 ‘C. E. Maine’ B.E.A.S.T. v. 59 You've caught me with my face off. Give me three minutes. 1969 R. Lockridge Murder in False Face xiv. 183 I'll wash my hands and put on another face. |
4. With reference to its position in the front of the body, or as the part presented to encounter. In many phrases, some of which merely express the notion of confronting or opposition, without any reference to the
lit. sense.
Cf. 2 d.
a. to meet (a person) in the face: to confront directly.
to have the wind in one's face;
lit. and
fig. to shut the door in, † upon (a person's) face;
lit. and
fig.| c 1430 Lydg. Bochas i. x. (1544) 15 b, She made her ordinaunce..With Zisara to meten in the face. 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. 303 The Venetian Factor..shutting his gate vpon my face. 1710 Brit. Apollo III. 3/1 When th' Wind's in your Face, Your Wit grows apace. a 1732 T. Boston Crook in Lot (1805) 17 People ply their business with skill and industry, but the wind turns in their face. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ. Wks. 1885 II. 640 'Tis shutting the door of conversation absolutely in his face. 1818 Byron Juan i. clxiv, The door was fasten'd in his legal face. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. I. xiv. 193 Seldom meeting them in the face or reaching a decision which marks an advance. Mod. A horse runs well with the wind in his face. |
b. to fly in the face of (a person, etc.),
lit. of a dog;
fig. to act in direct opposition to.
| 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 203 Lette hym have his will, and he will flie in thy face. 1610 Bp. Hall Apol. Brownists §13 Let him shew them a Cudgell, they flie in his face. 1689 Tryal Bps. 133 Shall he come and fly in the Face of the Prince? shall he say it is illegal? 1749 Fielding Tom Jones iii. viii, Thackum held, that this was flying in Mr. Allworthy's face. 1752 in Scots Mag. (1753) Oct. 494/1 It was flying in the face of the legislature itself. 1876 E. Fitzgerald Lett. (1889) I. 379 He has..been..apt to fly in the face of some who courted him. 1891 Nation 10 Dec. 440/2 He had to fly in the face of adverse decisions. |
c. in (the) face of: (
a) in front of, directly opposite to; (
b) face to face with, when confronted with; (
c) in defiance of, in direct opposition to, notwithstanding.
| (a) 1766 T. Page Art Shooting 36 When a bird comes directly in your face, Contain your fire awhile. 1879 Dowden Southey 14 He was for the first time in face of the sea. |
| (b) 1871 Smiles Charac. ii. (1876) 36 In the face of bad example, the best of precepts are of but little avail. 1883 Daily News 31 Oct. 5/2 Not a man..would seriously advise withdrawal in the face of a Chinese invasion. 1885 Manch. Exam. 3 June 5/3 The difficulty of keeping up wages in the face of a drooping market. |
| (c) 1837 Baroness Bunsen in Hare Life I. x. 461 They now assert here, in the face of facts, that the cholera has ceased. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 276 They were convicted in the face of the letter and of the spirit of the law. 1885 Manch. Exam. 29 Oct. 5/3 Plans, perseveringly carried out in the face of many discouragements. |
d. to make face to: to offer resistance to.
rare, after
Fr. faire face à.
| 1829 W. Irving Conq. Granada x. (1850) 74 The king and his commanders..made face to the Moors..repelling all assaults. |
e. In ice-hockey and lacrosse: the act of facing off (see
face v. 4 c). Also
face-off.
| 1896 Times (Niagara, Ont.) 20 Feb. 1/4 In the face-off Bishop lost. 1898 H. E. Byers in W. A. Morgan ‘House’ on Sport 211 The ‘face’ is a feature of the game [sc. lacrosse]. 1900 Daily News 29 Mar. 7/5 Kent opened proceedings with a goal by Jones immediately after the ‘face’. 1900 J. C. Isard in J. H. C. Fegan et al. Football, Hockey, & Lacrosse 178 When the game is opening, with the face-off at the centre. 1936 Times 25 Jan. 5/7 Then Smith equalized from the face-off [in ice-hockey] with a long shot. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 15 Jan. 19/6, I lined up for a faceoff. |
5. Contextually equivalent to: Sight, presence. In various phrases:
a. to fear, flee from, etc. the face of.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 953 (Cott.) Ȝee sal be flemed fra mi face. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 86, I salle be flemid awaye Fra Goddes faz, til pin of helle. 1611 Bible Gen. xxxv. 1 Thou fleddest from the face of Esau. 1781 Cowper Retirement 768 Judah's promised king..Driven out an exile from the face of Saul. |
b. before or in the face of: before the eyes of, in the sight of.
† before faces: in the public view, in company.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10460 (Gött.) Bot i him saw bifore mi face? c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 192 Þe man y trist an most forsakeþ me at my nede, & draȝþ ys swerd bi-fore my fas. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 846 Þai had grace, And loue before þe bischope face? 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 532/1 Ye shoulde see the whole summe and effecte of this tale..before your face layed together. 1632 Lithgow Trav. viii. 370 The Prince..causing euery one of them to recite the praise of Mahomet before his face. a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 248 Even the most carelesse boyes will be affraid to offend in the face of the monitor. 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 292 Arras..was taken..before the face of thirty thousand men. 1760 Goldsm. Cit. W. xviii. 3 A new-married couple more than ordinarily fond before faces. |
c. to (a person's) face: openly in his sight or hearing (implying frankness, effrontery or indecorum).
| 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 188 You..gave him a frumpe even to his face. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. i. i. 91 Wilt thou flout me thus vnto my face? 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. I. 231, I will not tell you to your face, that you are the Chrysostome of our Church. 1667 Denham Direct. Paint. ii. vi. 19 Men that there pick his pocket to his face. 1781 Cowper Expost. 283 Thy very children..curse thee to thy face. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 638 Sharp..read to their faces the whole service as it stood in the book. Mod. He does not like to be praised to his face. |
d. in the face of: in the sight or hearing of, in the presence of. Also
fig. in the face of the sun,
face of day, etc.: openly.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ii. v. (1495) 31 Angels..ben stable in the face of god. 1540 Act 32 Hen. VIII, c. 38 §2 Mariages..contracte and solemnised in the face of the church. a 1618 W. Bradshaw in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. xc. 8 Sins..committed in deepest darkness are all one to him as if they were done in the face of the sun. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 112 ¶7 Pray for him in the Face of the whole Congregation. 1769 Blackstone Comm. IV. 283 If the contempt be committed in the face of the court, the offender may be instantly apprehended and imprisoned. 1773 F. Burney Early Diary July, She does this in the fair face of day. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 19 You will forfeit, in the face of all men, the character of faithful ministers of God. 1858 Buckle Civiliz. (1873) II. viii. 509 They broke open private houses..in the face of day. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 164 You proclaim in the face of Hellas that you are a Sophist. |
6. a. The countenance as expressive of feeling or character; a countenance having a specified expression.
| c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 1138 So gretliche sche awondred was That hir chaunged blod and fas. 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 357 They..with a smiling face promise us their benevolence. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. i. i. 13 They weare their faces to the bent of the kings lookes. 1611 Bible Ezra ix. 7 For our iniquities have we..bin deliuered to confusion of face. 1612 Webster White Devil iii. i, It would do well, instead of looking-glasses, To set one's face each morning by a saucer Of a witch's congealed blood. 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 616 And all this with a face of sad pietie and stern mortification. 1676 G. Etherege Man of Mode iv. i, I..hate the set face that always looks as it would say, Come, love me. 1843 Macaulay Lake Regillus xii, With..haggard face to his last field he came. |
b. to make, pull a (crooked, pitiful, wry, etc.) face: to distort the features. Hence the
n. is used
colloq. for: A grimace.
| 1570 North Doni's Mor. Philos. (1888) III. 184 The poore Birde when he saw hir make that face to him was halfe afraide. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 263 Leaue thy damnable Faces, and begin. 1604 Middleton Father Hubburd's T. Wks. (Bullen) VIII. 72 The fantastical faces he coined in the receiving of the smoke. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. iv. 67 Why do you make such faces? 1713 Steele Englishman No. 7. 47 He will..make Faces at the Burgundian Grape. 1856 Reade Never too late xlv, I shall pull a long face. 1873 Dixon Two Queens III. xiv. viii. 113 The almoner made no faces at a dance. 1888 Mrs. H. Ward R. Elsmere II. ii. xviii, ‘The adjective is excellent’, she said with a little face. 1890 G. M. Fenn Double Knot I. i. 71 Making what children call ‘a face’, by screwing up her mouth and nose. |
7. a. Command of countenance,
esp. with reference to freedom from indications of shame; a ‘bold front’; impudence, effrontery, ‘cheek’.
† to put out of face: to put out of countenance.
to † bear, have the face to (do something): to be sufficiently impudent.
| 1537 Thersites in Hazl. Dodsley I. 401 He beareth not the face With me to try a blow. 1552 Bk. Com. Prayer Communion, With what face then, or with what countenaunce shal ye heare these wordes? 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. v. i. 11 Thinking by this face, To fasten in our thoughts that they haue courage. 1607 ― Cor. iv. vi. 116, I haue not the face To say, beseech you cease. 1654 Warren Unbelievers 85 He a man of that face and fore-head. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. vi. 148 With what face can I say anything? 1735 Pope Prol. Sat. 36 To be grave, exceeds all Pow'r of face. 1760 Goldsm. Cit. W. (1840) 140 None are more blest with the advantages of face than Doctor Franks. 1821 Sir J. D. Paul Rouge et Noir 45 Vice itself affects propriety That puts your vulgar virtue out of face. 1839 Dickens Let. ? Dec. (1965) I. 624 As a family man, I really have not the face to dine out again to-day. 1848 T. Arnold Let. 16 June (1966) 53, I dismissed my guide with..two shillings; though the little dog had the face to ask ‘sicca-penny more’. 1851 Longfellow Gold. Leg., Village Church, I wonder that any man has the face To call such a hole the House of the Lord. 1865 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. V. xiv. v. 218 The new Kur-Mainz..conscious of face sufficient. 1890 Spectator 1 Nov., What an amount of ‘face’ it argues in him. |
b. to † push or show a face: to exhibit a bold front.
to run one's face: (
U.S. slang) to obtain credit by impudence. Also
to travel on or upon one's face (
U.S.).
| 1758–65 Goldsm. Ess. viii, There are three ways of getting into debt: first, by pushing a face. 1827 Scott Jrnl. (1890) II. 6 They might have shown a face even to Canning. 1839 Spirit of Times 5 Oct. 368/3 The Picayune says there is a chap in New Orleans who has ‘run his face so often for drinks, that it is completely worn off’. 1856 Knickerbocker XLVIII. 504 [I] must travel on my face after this, when I want to go through the College. 1859 Yale Lit. Mag. XXV. 60 (Th.), If you have not a ready tongue, and cannot travel upon your face, you had better [etc.]. 1862 Lowell Biglow P. Poems 1890 II. 286 Men that can run their face for drinks, an' keep a Sunday coat. |
II. Outward form, appearance.
8. a. External appearance, look; also semblance
of (anything). Formerly used both of material and immaterial objects; now
rare except of immaterial objects in such phrases as
to adopt,
carry,
put on a (the) face of.
† (to carry) a great face: an appearance of importance.
† to have a face: to have an appearance, give promise of success.
| c 1381 Chaucer Parl. Foules 317 As Aleyn, in the Pleynt of Kynde, Devyseth Nature of aray and face. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 670 Þei schulden nouȝt after þe face neuer þe folke demen. 1513 More in Grafton Chron. II. 762 His part should have the face and name of a rebellion. 1565 Jewel Def. Apol. (1611) 137 This tale hath some face of truth. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 771 Monuments..which beare any face of comelinesse or antiquity. 1674 R. Godfrey Inj. & Ab. Physic Pref., That is a thing carries a great face with it. 1692 R. L'Estrange Josephus' Antiq. iv. vi. (1733) 88 There was hardly any Face left of the Order, Piety and Devotion of former Times. 1754 Hume Hist. Eng. I. xvi. 395 France began gradually to assume the face of a regular civil government. 1760 Foote Minor i. Wks. 1799 I. 247 Pillory me, but it has a face. 1765 Croker, etc. Dict. Arts & Sc., Face of Plants, among botanists, signifies their general appearance. 1782 Wesley Wks. (1872) XIII. 419 It carries no face of probability. 1827 Scott Jrnl. (1890) II. 35 Cadell explained to me a plan for securing the copyright of the novels, which has a very good face. 1860 H. Gouger 2 Years' Imprisonm. Burmah 41, I professed my ignorance of the touch of gold and the face of silver. 1865 Bushnell Vicar. Sacr. i. (1866) 5 Vicarious..is a word that carries always a face of substitution. 1888 Bryce Amer. Commw. III. xcv. 356 The problems of the world..are always putting on new faces. |
b. † at prime face = L.
prima facie;
at,
in,
on the first face: at the first appearance or look, at first sight.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 870 This accident..was..so lyke a soth, at prime face. 1430 Lydg. Chron. Troy ii. xiii, At pryme face, whan he came to towne. 1563 T. Gale Antidot. Pref. 2 Although it seeme harde..at the first face, yet folow thou styll the counsell. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (1885) 7 Naitur schawes furth Britannie all that it has at the first face. 1641 Shirley Cardinal iii. ii, Though at the first Face of the object your cool bloods were frighted. 1810 Syd. Smith Wks. (1859) I. 192/1 A narrative, which, on the first face of it, looked..much like truth. 1826 E. Irving Babylon I. ii. 120 In the very first face and showing of the thing. |
¶ c. = phase n. (
perh. confused with that word).
| 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. vi. i. 278 In what face or position of the Moone, whether at the prime or full, or soone after. 1711 Shaftesbury Charac. ii. v. (1737) II. 322 This was not a Face of Religion I was like to be enamour'd with. |
9. a. Visible state or condition; aspect.
to put a new face upon: to alter the aspect of.
| 1587 Harrison England ii. v. (1877) i. 110 To stirre up such an exquisite face of the church as we imagine. 1592 Davies Immort. Soul Introd. xxxv, The Face of outward Things we find, Pleasing and fair. 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 694 Wee may reade Gods displeasure on the face of heaven. 1638 Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. I. 8 Lyvie..stayed not a little to consider the new face he would have put upon the Commonwealth. 1722 De Foe Plague (1754) 19 The Face of London was now indeed strangely alter'd. 1781 Hist. Europe in Ann. Reg. 24/2 The arrival of so many ships..caused a new face of affairs. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 215 A pensive quiet reigns over the face of nature. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 284 The traces left by ages of slaughter and pillage were still distinctly perceptible..in the face of the country. |
b. Of a country: The configuration; assemblage of physical features. Also,
† a description of the same.
| 1673 Temple Observ. United Prov. Wks. 1731 I. 43 Changes..made in the Face and Bounds of Maritime Countries..by furious Inundations. 1681 Cotton Wond. Peak (ed. 6) 309, I almost believ'd it, by the Face Our masters give us of that unknown place. 1779–81 Johnson L.P., Addison Wks. III. 47 Comparisons of the present face of the country with the descriptions left us by the Roman poets. 1792 Gouv. Morris in Sparks Life & Writ. (1832) II. 236 The military face of that country is understood with perfect exactness. 1859 Jephson Brittany vi. 78 The sun shone out, and I could observe the face of the country. |
10. a. Outward show; assumed or factitious appearance; disguise, pretence; an instance of this; a pretext. Also,
† to make a (good, great) face;
to set a face on.
† to interpret (words) to wicked face: to put a bad construction upon. Now only in
to put (formerly bear out, set) a good face on (a matter): to make (a matter) look well; to assume or maintain a bold bearing (with regard to).
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Cor. v. 12 Hem that glorien in the face [so Tindale; 1611 and 1881 appearance], and not in the herte. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ix. 227 Lete vs..bere oute a good face as longe as we ben alyve. 1533 Bellenden Livy iv. (1822) 377 He interpret thir wourdis of Posthumius to sa wikkit face, that the said Posthumius suld..be odius..to the hale ordoure. 1533 More Apol. xlvii. Wks. 920/2 In some place of the same dyoces..they haue made a great face. 1542–5 Brinklow Lament. 9 b, The pore forgotten, except it be with a few scrappes and bones, sent to Newgate for a face! 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 265 They..made good face and shewe to fight with the Englishe men. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 95 Many..haue the skill..to make a face as though they loued them [friends]. 1590 H. Smith Wks. (1867) II. 309 If thou..have no cunning, but set a face on things, then take heed how you adjure these spirits. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. lx. (1739) 118 [He] never invaded the liberties of the Commons by any face of Prerogative. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 278 They..set a Face of civil Authority upon Tyranny. 1722 De Foe Plague (1754) 35 The very Court..put on a Face of just Concern for the publick Danger. 1748 Richardson Clarissa Wks. 1883 VIII. 110 That she may set the better face upon her gestation. 1867 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. iv. 231 Richer puts as good a face as he can on Hugh's discomfiture. |
b. to save one's face: see
save v. 8 f; also
to save face;
to lose face [
tr. Chinese
tiu lien]: to be humiliated, lose one's credit, good name, or reputation; similarly,
loss of face. Hence
face = reputation, good name.
| 1876 R. Hart These from Land of Sinim (1901) App. ii. 225 Arrangements by which China has lost face. 1899 Harmsworth Mag. June 400 That will save my face in the City. 1915 W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage cvii. 563 To save his face he began making suggestions for altering it, but Mrs Hodges..advised him to show it to Miss Antonia as it was. 1915 J. London Lost Face 33 He had lost face before all his people. 1928 Galsworthy Swan Song i. 5 They've got to save face. Saving face is the strongest motive in the world. 1929 Times 3 Aug. 11/3 Each wishes to concede only what can be conceded without loss of ‘face’. 1945 E. Waugh Brideshead Revisited 8 They..sidled away at the approach of an officer for fear that, by saluting, they would lose face with their new mistresses. 1957 L. Durrell Bitter Lemons 22 To lapse into Greek with anyone who was not a peasant would involve a loss of face. 1957 [see fairy-tale]. 1958 Times 5 July 12/1 The importance of ‘face’, whether individually or collectively, in Japan. 1968 G. Jones Hist. Vikings ii. iv. 129 Harald had lost face in his dealings with Norway. |
III. The part of a thing presented to the eye.
11. The surface or one of the surfaces of anything.
a. gen. Chiefly in phrases
orig. Hebraistic,
the face of the earth,
the deep,
the waters.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 4892 Þe face of þe erth sal brin with-out. 1382 Wyclif Gen. vii. 3 That the seed be sauyd vpon the face of al erthe. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 176 All menne, dispersed throughout the face of the yearth. 1611 Bible Gen. i. 2 Darkenesse was vpon the face of the deepe: and the Spirit of God mooued vpon the face of the waters. 1632 Lithgow Trav. iii. 102 The Women of the Citty Sio, are the most beautifull Dames..upon the face of the earth. 1665 Hooke Microgr. 88 When there has been a great hoar-frost..the..Crystalline beard..usually covers the face of..bodies. 1698 J. Keill Exam. Th. Earth (1734) 140 That great Deluge of waters which..overflowed the Face of the whole Earth. 1791 Ess. Shooting (ed. 2) 230 If he is clad in a glaring colour, when the face of the country retains its verdure. 1887 Frith Autobiog. I. i. 3 Such schools..being improved off the face of the earth. |
† b. Of a leaf in a book:
= side.
Obs.| c 1575 Fulke Confut. Doctr. Purgatory (1577) 5, I will come to the third leafe and second face. 1579 ― Refut. Rastel 730 From the first face of the 64 leafe to the seconde face of the 47 leafe. |
† c. Astrol. The third part of a sign of the zodiac, extending over 10 degrees in longitude. See also
quot. 1819.
Obs.| 1426 Pol. Poems (1859) II. 139 His dwellyng place Ameddis the hevene in the thrid face. 1587 Golding De Mornay xxxiv. 543 The Moone..was in the first face of Virgo. 1632 Massinger City Madam ii. ii, She in her exaltation, and he in his triplicite trine and face. 1819 J. Wilson Dict. Astrol. 96 A planet is in its face when it is at the same distance from the ☉ or {moonfq} as its house is from their houses, and in the same succession of signs. |
12. The principal side (often vertical or steeply inclined) presented by an object; the ‘front’ as opposed to the ‘flanks’.
a. (
a) Of a cliff, etc.; also
Geol. of a fault: The front or slope. (
b) An open slope or hillside.
N.Z. (
c)
Golf, the slope or cliff of a bunker.
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 290 A goodly Village..situate on the face of a fruitfull hill. Ibid. ix. 423 Wee Coasted the scurrile and Rockey face of Norway. 1751 R. Paltock P. Wilkins (1884) II. xviii. 203 Along the whole face of the rock..there were archways. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xiv, The tree..had sent its roots along the face of the rock in all directions. 1839 Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xxxvi. 503 As the face of this fault sinks to the west. |
| 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 75 Our way now lay along the face of a steep incline of snow. 1865 Gosse Land & Sea (1874) 388 A noble precipice, rising with a rough face almost perpendicularly from the water's edge. |
| 1857 St Leonard's Station Diary 11 July in L. R. C. MacFarlane Amuri (1946) iii. 126 Sheep seem all right as all on steep sunny faces which have partly cleared. 1947 P. Newton Wayleggo (1949) iii. 37 It was country of great open shingle faces. Ibid. 153 Face: open hillside. 1949 ― High Country Days xiii. 137 The stag up in the face gave tongue again. |
| 1881 R. Forgan Golfer's Handbk. 33 Face,..the sandy slope of a bunker. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 466/1 Shall I play it backwards, or sideways on to the grass, or try to get it over the face of the bunker nearer the hole? 1910 B. Darwin Golf Courses Brit. Isles v. 105 We may be just short with our second..and we shall be battering the bunker's unyielding face till our card is shattered and wrecked. |
b. Arch. (
a) The front or broadside of a building; the ‘facade’. (
b) The surface of a stone exposed in a wall. (
c) The front of an arch showing the vertical surfaces of the outside row of voussoirs.
| 1611 Bible Ezek. xli. 14 The bredth of the face of the house, and of the separate place toward the East, an hundreth cubites. 1624 Wotton Archit. in Reliq. Wotton. (1672) 17 The Face of the Building is narrow, and the Flank deep. 1664 Evelyn tr. Freart's Archit. 132 [The Architrave] is also frequently broken into two or three divisions, call'd by Artists Fascias or rather plain Faces. 1765 Croker, etc. Dict. Arts & Sc., Face, in archit., the front of a building, or the side which contains the chief entrance. Face of a stone, in masonry, that superficies of it which lies in the front of the work. 1848 Rickman Goth. Archit. 20 The cornice of this order, in Greece, consisted of a plain face, under the mutule. 1862 Trollope Orley F. i. (ed. 4) 6 The face of the house from one end to the other was covered with vines and passion flowers. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., Face (Carpentry), the front of a jamb presented towards the room. 1876 Gwilt Archit. Gloss., Face of a stone, the face intended for the front or outward side of the work. |
13. a. Of anything having two sides: The side usually presented outwards or upwards; the ‘front’ as opposed to the ‘back’; the ‘right’ side of cloth.
| 1611 Bible Isa. xxv. 7 He wil destroy in this mountaine the face of the couering cast ouer all people. 1820 Keats Cap & Bells xxxix. 1 They kiss'd..the carpet's velvet face. 1831 G. R. Porter Silk Manuf. 237 Diagonal lines..across the face of the cloth. 1874 Boutell Arms & Arm. vi. 89 The hollow under the face of the boss was open towards the reverse of the shield. 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 137 That part of the anther to which the filament is attached and which is generally towards the petals, is the back, the opposite being the face. 1883 Sir E. Beckett Clocks, etc. 146 The face of a wheel which turns in a gear. 1888 C. P. Brooks Cotton Manuf. 127 The face of the card or the side which is in contact with the needles. |
b. Of a coin or medal: The obverse; that which bears the effigy; sometimes used for either side. Hence in slang use: A coin (?
obs.).
| c 1515 Cocke Lorelles B. (Percy Soc.) 13 Some wente in fured gownes..That had no mo faces than had the mone. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 617 The face of an old Roman coine. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Nare-a-face-but-his-own, not a Penny in his Pocket. 1725 New Cant. Dict. Ne'er-a-face. 1762 Gentl. Mag. 22 The..face of this dye is truly antick. Ibid. 23 The face [of a coin] should have a resembling bust of his majesty. 1856 Smyth Roman Family Coins 233 The portrait on the other face of the medal. |
c. Of a document: The inscribed side. Hence
on, upon the face of (a document, etc.): in the words of, in the plain sense of. Also
on the face of it (
fig.): on a merely superficial view,
prima facie; obviously, plainly.
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. vi. 288 Their Great Seale..locked in vpon the lower face of the Parchment. 1641 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 80 Every novelty carries suspicion in the face of it. 1719 F. Hare Ch. Authority Vind. Pref. 8 The power and authority of the Ministers..as it appears upon the face of Scripture. 1748 Richardson Clarissa Wks. 1883 VIII. 186 An unprejudiced eye, upon the face of the letter, would condemn the writer of it. 1817 W. Selwyn Law Nisi Prius (ed. 4) II. 1248 It ought to appear on the face of the plea, that [etc.]. a 1832 Bentham Ess. Lang. Wks. 1843 VIII. 327 Of the history of language, no inconsiderable part remains to this day written upon the face of it. 1882 Knowledge II. 70 The whole theory was absurd on the face of it. 1923 ‘J. J. Connington’ Nordenholt's Million vi. 71 It certainly seemed on the face of it to be a very useless accomplishment. 1960 R. Davies Voice from Attic ii. 74 There seems, on the face of it, to be little harm in wanting to be solvent and comfortable. |
d. Of a playing card: The marked or picture side.
| c 1645 Howell Lett. (1891) i. iii. xxxii, The King never shews his game, but throws his cards with their faces down on the table. |
e. Of a dial: The surface which bears the hour marks, etc. Of a clock or watch: The dial plate (
perh. with allusion to the human face).
| [1751 R. Paltock P. Wilkins (1884) II. xix. 218 If I ask it [a watch] what time of day it is, I look but in its face, and it tells me presently.] 1787 Columbian Mag. I. 329/1 The face of the dial will be parallel with the plane of the equator. 1837 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. I. 87 Not watches so much as lockets with watch faces. 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg., Look at the Clock, ‘Grandmother's Clock!’..nothing was altered at all—but the Face! 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. ix. (1891) 211 He looked at..the face of the watch,—said it was getting into the afternoon. 1877 M. L. Molesworth Cuckoo Clock (1891) 41 Some brilliant moonbeams..lighted up brightly the face of the clock. 1892 N.Y. Nation 23 June 474/3 A volume without an index resembles a clock⁓face without any hands. |
f. Of a book: The front or fore-edge.
| 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 43/1 After the face [of a book] has been ploughed the back springs back into its rounded form. |
14. Each of the surfaces of a solid. In a regular solid, a crystal, diamond, etc.: Each of the bounding planes.
| 1625 in Rymer Fœdera XVIII. 236 One Aggett cutt with twoe Faces garnished with Dyamonds. 1750 D. Jeffries Treat. Diamonds & Pearls, Expl. Tech. Terms, Collet..the small horizontal plane, or face, at the bottom of the Brilliant. 1855 Bain Senses & Int. ii. ii. §11 A crystal with cut faces. 1863 Huxley Man's Place Nat. ii. 80 The occipital foramen of Mycetes..is situated completely in the posterior face of the skull. 1873 Dawson Dawn of Life vii. (1875) 188 Crystalline faces occur abundantly in many undoubted fossil woods and corals. 1878 A. H. Green Coal i. 17 The faces of the block of coal on these sides are smooth and shining. 1884 Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. & Ferns 177 The lateral faces..are covered thickly with sieve-plates. |
15. a. In implements, tools, etc.: The acting, striking, or working surface. In a molar tooth: The grinding surface. In a knife: The edge.
| 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 4 In Fig. 5. A the Face [of a hammer]. 1791 Ess. Shooting (ed. 2) 345 The face of the hammer [of the gun]..may be too hard or too soft. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Face, the edge of a sharp instrument. 1872 Huxley Phys. vi. 143 The face of the grinding teeth and the edges of the cutting teeth. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., Face 4 b, the sole of a plane. Ibid., Face (Gearing), that part of the acting surface of a cog which projects beyond the pitch line. Ibid., Face (Grinding), that portion of a lap or wheel which is employed in grinding, be it the edge or the disk. 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Terms Mech. Eng. 133 The face of an anvil is its upper surface. |
b. The striking surface of a golf-club, cricket-bat, hockey-stick, or tennis-racket; the inside of the net of a lacrosse-stick.
| 1881 R. Forgan Golfer's Handbk. 8 The head [of a full-sized Driver] weighs 7 oz. or 8 oz., and is distinguished from those of the ‘Spoon’ family by its ‘face’ being straight and almost perpendicular. 1887 W. G. Grace in G. A. Hutchison Cricket v. 49 It is much better to hold the face of the bat towards the umpire—nothing is gained by showing him the edge. 1891 H. G. Hutchinson Hints on Golf (ed. 6) 15 The maker's name gives you a fine guide to the centre of the face, which is the intended point of impact. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 469/1 (Golf) The lofted face enables the player to start the ball straight. Ibid. 606/2 (Lacrosse) The leading string is then joined to the face of the gut by means of other pieces of gut, and the crosse is complete. Ibid. 613/2 (Lawn tennis) Avoid lop-sided or small-faced rackets, and see that the grain in the frame runs equally round the face. 1900 H. F. P. Battersby in J. H. C. Fegan et al. Football, Hockey, & Lacrosse 85 Sticks are made up with the grain running, broadly speaking, in one of two ways: either parallel to the plane of the face, or at right angles to it. 1909 P. A. Vaile Mod. Golf i. 13 It is a mistake in the driver or brassie to have the face too shallow. |
16. An even or polished surface.
| 1881 Mechanic §449 Where one piece [of glass] is ground against another to bring them to a face. 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Terms Mech. Eng. 133 The face of a casting is that surface which is turned or polished. |
IV. Technical uses.
17. Fortification.
a. (see
quot. 1727);
b. (see
quot. 1859, and
cf. bastion).
| a. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. ii. xiv. 118 A proper place muste be ordeyned atte euery face of the walles for to sette gonnes. 1672 J. Lacey tr. Tacquet's Milit. Archit. iii. 4 The face which is the weakest part of the fortification, is defended by [etc.] 1727 Bailey, Face of a Place is the Front, that is comprehended between the flanked Angles of the two neighbouring Bastions. 1800 Wellington in Gurw. Disp. I. 190, I attacked it [Dummul] in three places, at the gate⁓way and on two faces. 1849–50 Alison Hist. Europe VIII. xlix. §24. 27 The efforts..had been directed against the northern face of the fortress of Seringapatam. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 138/1 The Raponiers..are situated in the middle of each long face. |
| b. 1676 Lond. Gaz. No. 1119/3 About Noon, a Mine in a Face of the same Hornwork..took Fire. 1818 Jas. Mill Brit. India II. v. v. 478 Having made a breach in one of the bastions [we] destroyed the faces of the two that were adjacent. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (ed. 9) 261 The faces of a work are those parts which form a salient angle projecting towards the country. |
18. Mil. (See
quot. 1853.)
| 1853 Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 101 The faces of a square are the different sides of a battalion, &c., which, when formed into a square, are all denominated faces; viz., the front face, the right face, the left face, and the rear face. 1885 Times (weekly ed.) 23 Jan. 3/1 This face had not quite closed up before it was attacked. |
19. Ordnance. ‘The surface of metal at the muzzle of a gun’ (Knight).
| 1727 Bailey, Face of a Gun is the Superficies of the Metal at the Extremity of the Muzzle. 1867 in Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. |
20. Mining.
a. ‘In any adit, tunnel, or stope, the end at which work is progressing or was last done’ (Raymond
Mining Gloss.).
| 1708 J. C. Compl. Collier (1845) 46 They frequently hole, or cut through from one Board to another, to carry their Air..to the end or Face of their Boards. 1867 W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal Mining 131 Supporting the roof at the immediate ‘face’ by temporary props. 1888 F. Hume Mad. Midas i. v, They..visited several other faces of wash..Each face had a man working at it, sometimes two. |
b. ‘The principal cleaving-plane at right angles to the stratification.
(driving) on the face: against or at right angles with the face’ (Raymond
Mining Gloss.).
face on: (see
quot. 1883).
| 1867 W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 25 Faces, running most regularly parallel. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 238 The direction along which these joints run is often known as the face of the coal. 1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal-mining 99 Face on..working a mine parallel to the cleat or face. |
21. Steam-engine. The flat part of a slide-valve; also, the corresponding flat part on a cylinder, on which the slide-valve travels.
| 1838 Wood Railr. 346 The slide would be moved to the extremity of the face of the cylinder. 1874 in Knight Dict. Mech. |
22. Typog. That part of a type (or punch) which has the form of the letter. Also, The printing surface of type.
face of the page: (see
quot.).
heavy face (numerals or type): having a broader outline, and printing thicker than the ordinary.
old face (type): a form of Roman letter (characterized by oblique ceriphs and various other features) revived by Whittingham in 1844, and since very extensively used. See also
full-face 2.
| 1683 Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 201 So placed the Face of the Letter runs less hazzard of receiving dammage. 1699 A. Boyer Eng. & Fr. Dict. s.v., A letter that has a good face (among printers), un caractère qui a un bel œil. 1787 Printer's Gram. 41 Kerned Letters are such as have part of their Face hang over. 1824 J. Johnson Typogr. II. 21 Short letters are all such as have their face cast on the middle of their square metal. 1853 Caxton & Art of Printing vii. 155 One of the heap which lies in the right position, both as regards the face being upwards, and the nick being outwards. 1871 Amer. Encycl. Printing 167/2 Face of the page, the upper side of the page, from which the impression is taken. 1875 Ure Dict. Arts III. 1049 In this metal the face of the letter intended to be cast is sunk. 1891 J. Winsor C. Columbus xxi. 524 The heavy face numerals show the successive holders of the honors of Columbus. |
† 23. Card-playing.
= face-card: (see 27).
Obs.| 1674 Cotton Compl. Gamester in Singer Hist. Cards 347 If you have neither ace nor face, you may throw up your game. |
24. Tea trade. (See
quot.)
Cf. face v. 15.
| 1886 Chambers' Encycl. IX. 323 Prussian blue..native indigo and gypsum are the real materials employed for giving the ‘face’ as it is called. |
† 25. a face of fur: ? a set of furs.
Cf. face v. 12.
| 1562 Heywood Epigrams i. lv, Cheepening of a face of furre. Into a skinners shop..in hast ran a gentilman there to espie A fayre face of fur, which he woulde haue bought. |
V. attrib. and
Comb. 26. General relations:
a. attributive (sense 1), as
face-bleach,
face-cosmetic,
face-glove,
face-hair,
face-mask,
face-massage,
face-paint,
face-powder,
face-screen,
face-sponge,
face-tissue,
face-towel,
face-veil,
face-wash; (sense 12 b), as
face-mortar,
face-work; (sense 13 a), as
face-side; (sense 20), as
face-line.
b. objective (sense 1), as
face-levelling,
face-mending,
face-tearing vbl. ns.;
face-wringing,
ppl. a.;
face-mender,
face-moulder; (sense 6 b), as
face-maker,
face-pulling ppl. a. and
vbl. n.; (sense 3), as
face-affecting ppl. a.
c. locative (sense 1), as
face-hot adj.,
face-joy,
face-spot; (sense 5), as
face-flatterer.
d. instrumental, as
face-forward,
face-down,
face-up (all
adj. and
adv.).
e. similative, as
face-high adj. and
adv.| 1675 Cocker Morals 24 *Face-affecting Lasses, Neglect their Graces, to attend their Glasses. |
| 1907 Daily News 3 Sept. 2/7 A *face-bleach for removing all discolorations from the skin. |
| 1887 M. Corelli Thelma II. 207 Beauties..deprived of elegant attire and *face-cosmetics. |
| 1935 E. Bowen House in Paris i. v. 75 Leopold..stared at the *face-down cards. 1962 Gloss. Terms Automatic Data Processing (B.S.I.) 90 Various terms are used to indicate the attitude in which a card is placed in the hopper... Face-up feed and face-down feed. |
| 1859 Tennyson Idylls, Vivien 822 *Face-flatterers and backbiters. |
| 1907 Westm. Gaz. 11 Nov. 6/3 Accommodation for..two on large ‘*face-forward’ seats. 1938 R. Graves Coll. Poems 152 Leaping face-forward from their high roofs. |
| 1924 W. Deeping Three Rooms ii. 11 She was..using the *face-glove with angry vigour. 1927 Peake & Fleure Peasants & Potters ix. 122 Scanty *face-hair save for a chin tuft in the male. |
| 1905 Westm. Gaz. 15 June 7/1 The ball went, *face-high, just within reach of Gregory. |
| 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes ii. iv. 49 Who, (but one that will carry no coales) would have rewarded a friend thus for his opinion, only in *Face-hot presses. |
| 1850 Mrs. Browning Poems II. 336 In your bitter world..*Face⁓joy's a costly mask to wear. |
| 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. Pref., Crosse to that *Face-levelling designe, Thy high⁓rais'd Nose appeareth Aquiline. |
| 1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal-mining 99 Keep the *face line of the stall neither fully face on nor end on. |
| 1756 Cowper in Connoisseur No. 138 Those buffoons in society, the Attitudinarians and *Face-makers. 1808 Wolcott (P. Pindar) One more Peep at R.A. Wks. 1812 V. 367 Forced to beg her humble bread While every face-maker can feast. |
| 1906 Westm. Gaz. 26 Mar. 2/3 It is unnecessary for the operator [of oxygen-supplying apparatus] to wear any helmet or *face-mask. 1936 Discovery July 206/2 A liquid compound of ether..given..from a face mask through a drop bottle. |
| 1896 ‘Iota’ Quaker Grandmother xxii. 259 She..would have her usual *face massage done then. 1900 Daily News 31 May 7/4 Departments for manicure, pedicure, and face-massage. |
| 1745 E. Heywood Female Spectator (1748) III. 156 Have they not their..barbers, aye, and their *facemenders too? |
| Ibid. 234 Those..*facemending stratagems. |
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §222 The best *face mortar. |
| 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. Pref., *Face-moulders who affect the grace Of a square, plain, or a smooth platter-face. |
| 1915 Illustr. Lond. News 23 Jan. 120/1 Egyptian women..used..malachite, as the ingredient of a *face-paint. |
| 1858 Illustr. News of World 17 Apr. 175/4 Saunders's *Face Powder..beautifies the complexion. 1879 Chemist & Druggist XXI. 481/1, 60 grammes of..Face Powder—a mixture of talc with a small proportion of white magnesia, coloured faintly red with cochineal. 1920 Punch 15 Sept. 219/1 A lady with a Russian name, no back to her gown and green face-powder. |
| 1898 Westm. Gaz. 23 June 3/2 His *face-pulling man whose countenance is as clay in the hands of a sculptor. 1906 Ibid. 7 Sept. 3/2 By dint of much face-pulling I managed to persuade my poor muscles to put me in an upright position. 1941 Koestler Scum of Earth xiii. 134 He had performed his task, especially the face-pulling, with so much success that he eventually became second clown. |
| 1818 Keats Let. 16 Dec. (1958) II. 6, I brought from her a present of *facescreens. 1890 W. J. Gordon Foundry 155 The men around in face-screens and leg-guards. |
| c 1790 J. Imison Sch. Art II. 7 Prepare some..size, with which you must brush over the *face side [of a print]. |
| 1885 A. Brassey The Trades 311 The black bodies..made them look anything but suitable for use as *face-sponges. |
| 1685 Cooke Marrow Chirurg. (ed. 4) vii. i. 270 Pimpernel cleanseth *Face-Spots. |
| 1937 Woman's Fair Oct. 50/3 Try creaming it [sc. your face] a second time and see if the second *face-tissue comes off clean. 1951 E. Taylor Game of Hide-and-Seek i. iii. 57 Harriet..dropped screwed-up face-tissues on the floor. |
| 1922 S. Lewis Babbitt i. 6 His own *face-towel. 1925 R. A. Knox Viaduct Murder vi. 59 The face-towel was distinctly mentioned in the washing-list. 1926 A. Christie Murder of R. Ackroyd x. 127 He wouldn't even buy new face towels, though I told him the old ones were in holes. |
| 1962 *Face-up [see face-down, above]. |
| 1930 A. Clarke Coll. Plays (1963) 67 They wear the *face-veil. |
| 1870 R. Tomes Bazar Bk. Decorum 29 Now we advise them to overturn into the fire all their *face-washes..and to betake themselves to soap. 1907 Daily News 3 Sept. 2/7 A face-wash for improving the complexion. 1911 E. Ferber Dawn O'Hara iii. 34 A motherly hug..enveloped me in an atmosphere of liquid face-wash, strong perfumery and fried lard. |
| 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §213 The *face work of the subordinate parts. |
| a 1613 Overbury Charac., Hypocrite, A *face-wringing ballet-singer. |
27. Special comb.:
face-ache, (
a) pain in the nerves of the face; (
b) a mournful-looking person (also as a term of address)
slang;
face-ague, an acute form of face-ache, tic douloureux;
face-airing vbl. n. (
Mining), see
quot.;
face-bedded ppl. a., (a stone) placed so that the grain runs along the face;
face-bone = cheek-bone;
face bow Dentistry, a calliper-like frame with adjustable attachments that is fixed round the front and sides of the head in order to take measurements of the mouth and jaws prior to making a denture;
† face-bread,
Heb. ˈleḥem happānīm = show-bread;
† face-breadth, extent of the face (sense 1) from side to side;
face-brick U.S., a special brick used for facing buildings, etc.; a facing-brick; also, face-work of brick;
face-card, a playing-card bearing a face (of a king, queen, or knave)
= coat card;
face-centred a. Cryst., applied to a space lattice in which the lattice-points occur at the centres of the faces and the corners of unit cells; hence also to a crystal, substance, etc., having a structure based on such a lattice;
face-chuck (
Mech.)
= face-plate;
face-cloth, (
a) ‘a cloth for protecting the face of a baby’; a cloth laid over the face of a corpse; (
b) a woollen cloth with a smooth napped surface; (
c) a cloth for washing the face;
face-cog (
Mech.), one of the cogs or teeth on the ‘face’ of a wheel;
face cream, a cream for the complexion; cold cream;
face cut Forestry (see
quot. 1957);
face-cutting ppl. a., making a plane surface;
face decoration, decoration (of pottery) with a face or faces; so
face-decorated adj.;
face flannel = face-cloth (c),
flannel n. 1 e;
face-fungus colloq., the hairy growth on a man's face,
esp. a beard;
face-glass, the glass window of a diver's helmet;
face-guard, a contrivance for protecting the face,
esp. in some industrial processes, fencing, etc.;
face-hammer (see
quots.);
face-harden v. trans., to harden the surface of (metal) by case-hardening, chill casting, or other process; so
face-hardened ppl. a., (in
quot.) hard-faced;
face-joint (see
quot.);
face-knocker, one in which the fixed portion has the form of a human face;
face-lathe (see
quots.);
face-lifting vbl. n., a method of restoring a more youthful appearance by a surgical operation in which the skin is tightened and the wrinkles smoothed out; also
fig. and
transf.,
e.g. the refacing of a building; hence (as a back-formation)
face-lift v. trans.; also
face-lift n., the operation of face-lifting (
lit. and
fig.); so
face-lifter;
face-line, (
a) the alignment of the face of a structure, etc.: (
b)
pl. the lines or wrinkles of the face;
face-making vbl. n., (
a) portrait-painting; (
b)
Obs. slang, the begetting of children; (
c) the pulling of faces;
face-man, a miner who works at the face;
face-mould (see
quots.);
face-pack, a preparation beneficial to the complexion, spread over the face and removed when dry;
face-painter, (
a) a painter of portraits, (
b) one who applies paint to the face;
face-painting vbl. n., portrait-painting;
face-physic,
collect. appliances for the face;
face-piece, (
a) (
Naut.), see
quot.; (
b)
= face-glass; (
c) a mask covering nose and mouth (as used in anæsthetics) or nose and eyes (as used in diving); (
d) a decorative appendage on a horse's bridle;
face-plan (see
quot.);
face-plate, (
a) (
Mech.), an enlargement of the end of the mandrel (of a lathe) to which work may be attached for the purpose of being ‘faced’ or made flat; also
attrib., as in
face-plate coupling; (
b) a plate protecting some piece of machinery; (
c) the area corresponding to the visor in protective head-gear (of a diving- or space-suit);
face-play, facial movement in acting, etc.;
† face-playing vbl. n., the exhibition of feeling or sentiment by the play of the countenance;
face-presentation (
Midwifery), presentation face foremost in birth;
face-saver, something that ‘saves one's face’ (see sense 10 b above); also
face-saving ppl. a. and vbl. n.;
face-shaft (
Arch.), see
quot.;
face-stone (
Arch.) the slab of stone forming the face or front,
esp. in a cornice, an entablature, etc.;
face-symbol Cryst., the symbol designating the face or plane of a crystal;
face-turning-lathe = face-lathe;
face-urn, an urn decorated with a face or faces;
face-value, the amount stated on the face (of a note, postage-stamp, etc.), the apparent or nominal value; also
fig.;
face-wall (
Building), front wall;
face-wheel (
Mech.)
= contrate-wheel (see
contrate 2); also ‘a wheel whose disk-face is adapted for grinding and polishing’ (Knight);
† face-wind, a wind blowing against one's face;
face-work, the exterior of masonry, the material forming the outside of a wall or the like;
face-worker = face-man.
| 1808 Jane Austen Let. 26 June (1952) 203 Henry sends us the welcome information of his having had no *face-ache since I left them. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. v, It gave you the face-ache to look at his apples. 1869 Eng. Mech. 12 Nov. 211/1 Faceache I believe to be..inflammation of the nerves. 1937 Partridge Slang Dict. 261/2 Face-ache, a C.20 jocular term of address. 1961 Simpson & Galton Hancock 35/2 On a train..a carriageful of the most miserable-looking bunch of face-aches. |
| 1883 W. S. Gresley Gloss. Terms Coal-mining 99 *Face airing, that system of ventilating the workings which excludes the airing of the goaves. |
| 1863 Archæol. Cantiana V. 14 Jambs two feet eight inches apart, *face-bedded. 1883 Stonemason Jan., It is rare now for a face-bedded stone to be fixed in a building. |
| 1801 Southey Thalaba viii. ii, His cheeks were fallen in, His *face-bones prominent. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 44 Raw facebones under his peep of day boy's hat. |
| 1940 J. Osborne Dental Mechanics vi. 53 A *face bow is also used to register accurately the relationship between the upper jaw and the condyle. |
| a 1656 Bp. Hall Rem. Wks. (1660) 238 The matter and form of the..Tables of the *Face-bread. |
| 1651 J. F[reake] Agrippa's Occ. Philos. 271 Nine *face-bredths make a square well set man. |
| 1807 Independent Chron. (Boston, Mass.) 21 Sept. 3/2 The Subscriber has been at considerable expense for several years past in the improvement of *Face Bricks..superior to the Philadelphia Bricks. 1878 Congress. Rec. 25 Jan. 548/1 In consequence of the limit placed upon the cost of the building, it was found necessary to adopt face-brick. 1901 R. Sturgis Dict. Archit. s.v. Brick, Face Brick, one of a superior quality used for the face of a wall. |
| 1826 J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. (1855) 303 Desperate bad hauns..a haun without a *face-caird. 1888 Sheffield Gloss. (E.D.S.), Face-card, a court card. |
| 1913 Proc. R. Soc. A. LXXXIX. 257 The assumption of diffraction by the *face-centred space lattice does not completely account for the pattern. 1921 Physical Rev. XVII. 587 Indium was found to consist of a face-centered tetragonal lattice of atoms. 1959 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXCIII. 325/2 For face-centred cubic metals, notch ductility was found to be a linear function of the strain-hardening exponent. 1967 A. H. Cottrell Introd. Metall. xiii. 158 There are two fully close-packed crystal structures, known as face-centred cubic (F.C.C.) and close-packed hexagonal (C.P. Hex.). |
| 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Terms Mech. Eng. 133 *Face chuck, a face plate. |
| 1602 Accounts of Lord High Treasurer of Scotland 97 (D.O.S.T.), Ane ribbenit *face claithe. 1685 Inventory in Proc. Soc. Ant. Scotland (1924) LVIII. 359 A parchment box wherein is 3 flanan face cloaths. 1748 Richardson Clarissa xliv. VIII. 166 She..seeing the coffin, withdrew her hand from mine and..removed the *face-cloth. 1859 Tennyson Idylls, Guinevere 7 The white mist, like a face-cloth to the face, Clung to the dead earth. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 29 Sept. 3/2 Dark plaid skirts and face-cloth coats. 1928 Daily Express 27 Dec. 5/2 Smooth face cloth and fox. 1930 Chemist & Druggist CXII. 663/1 A novelty in the way of face cloths. 1951 J. Frame Lagoon 33 She would buy Nurse Harper a cake of soap and a face-cloth wrapped in cellophane. 1953 X. Fielding Stronghold i. v. 81 Baggy breeches of royal blue face-cloth. 1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 227 Face-cloth. This is a term loosely used for a face-finished, sleek, glossy, luxurious looking woollen cloth. |
| 1833 Holland Manuf. Metal II. 61 An axil which carries likewise another [wheel] with *face-cogs. |
| 1906 E. Aria Costume i. 1 Queen Victoria Eugénie, whose name has been snatched to honour a *face-cream. 1913 E. Wharton Custom of Country iii. xxi. 315 The little boy was encouraged to scatter the grimy carpet with face-creams and bunches of clippings. 1935 A. Christie Death in Clouds xix. 182 Jars of face cream. |
| 1874 W. M. Baines Narr. E. Crewe viii. 180 After taking off a ‘*face cut’. 1950 H. Wilson My First 80 Yrs. vii. 105 So far we had asked for ‘face-cuts’, the first slices off the logs with the bark adhering. 1957 Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol. II. 69 Face cut, the waney..or thin piece of timber removed when a straight face is cut along a log or flitch on a sawbench. 1963 C. R. Cowell et al. Inlays, Crowns & Bridges ix. 99 The undercut formed by the bulge of the cingulum is removed, using a face-cutting inverted cone or tapered fissure diamond. |
| 1928 Peake & Fleure Steppe & Sown 97 Its curious pottery with face decorations reminds us of the *face-decorated handles of pots from Cemetery A at Kish in Mesopotamia. |
| 1939 ‘J. Struther’ Mrs. Miniver 47 All the accumulations on the debit side of parenthood:..the plasticine on the door-handles, the *face-flannels in the bathroom, [etc.]. 1961 A. Wilson Old Men at Zoo ii. 101 Scrambled eggs should be scrambled, not cooked like a face flannel. |
| 1907 F. Richardson Bunkum 316 He [sc. Juan de Castro] offered to pledge one of his whiskers... He had grossly over-capitalised his *face-fungus. 1959 Listener 22 Jan. 183/2 Svengali..with his face-fungus and rolling eyes. |
| 1896 Strand Mag. XII. 356/1 It is useless to butt the *face-glass or wildly knock your head against the inside of the helmet. a 1941 R. Bedford in Austral. Short Stories (1951) 98 The tender screwed the face-glass into the helmet. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Face-guard, a mask with windows for the eyes. 1883 J. W. Mollett Dict. Art & Archæol. 134 Face guard on a helmet, a bar or bars of iron protecting the face. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Face-hammer, one with a flat face. 1884 Ibid. IV. 324/1 Face Hammer (Masonry), one with one blunt and one cutting end. |
| 1874 Porcupine 21 Feb. 742/3 They were seen to join in the revelry and devilry as drunkenly as the most face-hardened of their companions. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 28 Feb. 6/3 All thick armour is face-hardened on the Harvey principle. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Face-joint, that joint of a voussoir which appears on the face of the arch. |
| 1769 Public Advertiser 18 May 3/4 Iron *Face Knockers. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech., *Face-lathe, (a) a pattern-maker's lathe for turning bosses, core prints, and other face-work; (b) a lathe with a large face-plate and a slide rest adjustable in front on its own shears. Transverse usually but not necessarily. 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Terms Mech. Eng., Face lathe, a lathe chiefly or exclusively used for surfacing. |
| 1934 R. Macaulay Going Abroad xxvii. 226 What I needed..was a *face-lift... I should have a new, young, tight face. 1939 Times 28 Mar. 9/5 Many solidly built Victorian houses..which it should be possible to ‘face lift’. 1957 Times 20 June 11/5 The restorers who will be face-lifting the exteriors of these historical buildings. 1957 Times Lit. Suppl. 11 Oct. 609/2 A special fund for preventing theatres and concert halls from becoming shabby and unattractive, or for giving them a face-lift when they are. |
| 1942 N. Marsh Death & Dancing Footman i. 25 What's he like, this *face-lifter? |
| 1952 Time 30 June 28 (Advt.), That's not a ‘*face-lift’. That's Forerunner Styling—the years-ahead design that makes other ‘new’ cars seem out of date. 1956 Sunday Times 8 Jan. 7/7 Buyers abroad complain that our manufacturers seem content merely to give their cars a face⁓lift instead of tackling fundamental features. 1971 Daily Tel. 1 Feb. 3 Rail travellers are demanding a facelift for scruffy stations with their peeling paint..and squalid lavatories. |
| 1922 F. Courtenay Physical Beauty ix. 57 The ‘face-raising’ or ‘*face-lifting’ process which does away with wrinkles, mouth and eyelines and sagging cheeks by literally ‘lifting’ off part of the old face and replacing it. 1928 Sunday Dispatch 16 Dec. 9/4 A youthful appearance is considered an advantage, and face-lifting is a common thing among men. |
| 1883 Face-line [see face n. 26]. 1906 Daily Chron. 13 July 3/3 They are the real Rembrandt. There is a deep furrow in the brow; the face-lines are bitten as by acid. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 6 Mar. 16/1 The work of erecting the new intermediate ribs between the old bridge and the new face-line is now in progress on all the spans. 1963 Gloss. Mining Terms (B.S.I.) i. 10 Subsidiary survey, an underground survey made to determine the position of a face line or goaf line or some other specific feature. |
| 1623 Webster Duchess of Malfi iii. ii, 'Twould disgrace His *face-making, and undo him. 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T. I. 2 Face making, begetting children. 1799 Jane Austen Let. 8 Jan. (1952) 51 My sweet little George! I am delighted to hear that he has such an inventive genius as to face-making. 1827 P. Egan Anecdotes of Turf 177 If ever she committed any more sins in the face-making line—quod,..should be her portion. |
| 1921 Glasgow Herald 21 Apr. 5 The effect of the new offer on the wages of ‘*face-men’. |
| 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 222 *Face-mould, a mould for drawing the proper figure of a hand-rail on both sides of the plank. 1876 in Gwilt Archit. Gloss. |
| 1926 Amer. Mercury Feb. 168 The profits of the beauty shop are dependent mainly upon the sale of..*face packs and similar preparations. 1944 M. Laski Love on Supertax x. 97 Women leaping from drying machines..and one from a face-pack. 1960 Woman's Own 19 Mar. 25/2 Face-packs twice a week improve the texture and..brighten the skin. |
| 1697 Dryden's Virgil Life (1709) 16 (Jod.) Ill *facepainters, not being able to hit the true features..make amends by a great deal of impertinent land⁓scape and drapery. 1847 L. Hunt Men, Women, & B. I. xiv. 276 The highest face-painters are not the loveliest women. 1852 S. R. Maitland Ess. 107 note, ‘He took me for a face-painter!’ said a late eminent artist. |
| 1706 Art of Painting (1744) 355 He was..a landskip-painter..till he..fell to *face-painting. 1862 W. M. Rossetti in Fraser's Mag. July 73 Whose picture..shows a higher character of face-painting. |
| 1611 Donne Ignatius' Conclave (1652) 129 Women tempting by Paintings and *Face-Physick. a 1613 Overbury Charac., Faire Milkmayd, One looke of hers is able to put all face-physicke out of countenance. |
| c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 117 *Face-piece, a piece of elm, generally tabled on to the fore-part of the knee of the head, to assist the conversion of the main piece, and likewise to shorten the upper bolts, and prevent the cables from rubbing against them as the knee gets worn. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 21 Sept. 5/3 A big round-topped helmet that contains a small glass face-piece through which the wearer can see. 1955 J. Sweeney Skin Diving vii. 90 The only area of unequal pressure that can occur in a swimmer's equipment is that of his face-piece or sea mask. 1960 H. Hayward Antique Coll. 113/2 Face-piece horse brass. 1961 Lancet 22 July 214/1 Immediately after the shock the face-piece was reapplied. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Face-plan, the principal or front elevation. |
| 1841 Tredgold Mill-work 428 The *face-plate has four adjusting screws for securing the work. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. a 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 324/1 Face-plate, a covering plate for an object to receive wear or shock. 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Terms Mech. Eng., The term face plate is more commonly applied in the shops to the ordinary face chucks. Ibid., Face-plate coupling = Flanged coupling. 1962 S. Carpenter in Into Orbit 75 We had to open up the faceplate on our helmets and squirt the food into our mouths. 1966 ‘L. Holton’ Out of Depths xvi. 158 He put the faceplate over his nose and eyes and the regulator in his mouth and took a suck of the air. 1970 F. McKenna Gloss. Railwaymen's Talk p. x, If you faced the fire-box you were subjected to radiant heat from the fire-box and the faceplate fittings. |
| 1908 T. Hardy Sel. Poems W. Barnes p. viii, Each word of theirs [sc. of husbandmen] is accompanied by the qualifying *face-play which no construing can express. 1958 Listener 5 June 953/2 Neither text nor production was helpful: everything was bustled along with voices too loud and face-play too obvious. |
| 1789 Burney Hist. Mus. IV. 319 She perfectly possessed that flexibility of muscles and features, which constitutes *face-playing. |
| 1841 Rigby Midwifery iii. iii. 130 The opinion that *face-presentations were preternatural. |
| 1941 E. Snow Scorched Earth ii. 19 As a *face-saver, however, Doihara was given enough support, from the Kwantung Army in Manchuria [etc.]. 1959 Times 4 May 3/1 An equalizer in the dying seconds and yet another face-saver in the extra time. |
| 1922 A. Bennett Lilian i. iii. 19 She had been trapped beyond any chance of a *face-saving lie. 1931 Economist 4 Apr. 716/1 After all, ‘face-saving’ is common form in the politics of every country. 1957 Observer 10 Nov. 1/5 This satellite launching is an isolated face-saving move in a sense. |
| 1849 Ecclesiologist IX. 345 The double semi-cylindrical *face-shafts, formerly running up the face of the piers. |
| 1853 Ruskin Stones Ven. III. App. x. 238 The *face-stone and often the soffit, are sculptured. Ibid. III. 238 Arches decorated only with coloured marble, the facestone being coloured, the soffit white. |
| 1899 W. J. Lewis Treat. Crystallogr. iv. 27 (heading) *Face symbol. 1903 Athenæum 17 Jan. 86/3 How to convert the face-symbols of Naumann into those of Miller. 1944 C. Palache et al. Dana's Syst. Min. (ed. 7) I. 36 Any face symbol (hkl) in the old orientation may be transformed to the new equivalent (h{p}k{p}l{p}). 1959 C. S. Hurlbut Dana's Man. Min. (ed. 17) ii. 32 The zone symbols are inclosed in brackets, as [uvw], to distinguish them from face and form symbols. |
| 1841 Tredgold Mill-work 428 *Face-turning lathe. |
| 1927 Peake & Fleure Priests & Kings 147 The *face-urns..do not seem to belong to the invading people who founded Hissarlik II. 1957 V. G. Childe Dawn Europ. Civilization (ed. 6) iii. 43 Anthropomorphic lids and jars (‘face-urns’). |
| 1878 F. A. Walker Money xx. 461 Some English Merchant who is bound to pay money in the United States for more than the *face⁓value of his claim. 1883 J. L. Whitney in Lit. World 8 Sept. 293/1 He must take the advertisements of publishers at their face value, and regard them as what they claim to be. 1888 Daily News 13 July 3/3 If postcards were sold at the face value of the stamps upon them. 1891 Law Times XCI. 224/1 The note is still worth its face value. |
| 1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Face-wall. |
| 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 191 The axle is turned round by a *face or crown wheel fixed upon the extremity of it. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. I. 349/2 Face-wheels have their cogs or pins placed perpendicularly to the face of the wheel. |
| a 1722 Lisle Husb. (1757) 113 A *face or back-wind signifies little. |
| 1838 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 330/1 What is called Flemish bond consists in the disposition of the bricks on the outside, or *face work. 1909 Daily Chron. 5 Aug. 1/3 The face-work of the old parapet having been re-erected. |
| 1926 Rep. R. Comm. Coal Ind. 118 in Parl. Papers (Cmd. 2600) XIV, Persons working at the face..‘*face’ workers. In 1905 there were 58 face workers to 42 off-hand workers. 1957 Economist 23 Nov. 706/2 There are as many faceworkers in the mines as there were then. |
28. With adverbs forming combs. expressing the action of the corresponding verbal combinations, as
face-off (see sense 4 e above),
face-up, a facing-up.
| 1936 Discovery Oct. 330/1 Here, at last, is a face-up to the relations between science and society. |
Add:
[5.] e. to get out of (someone's) face, to leave (someone) alone, to stop harassing or annoying (a person). Freq.
imp. Chiefly
U.S. slang (
orig. Blacks').
| 1931 PMLA XLVI. 1307 Git out o' my face, or I'll slap ye into the middle of next week. 1946 Mezzrow & Wolfe Really the Blues i. i. 4 Jim Crow just wouldn't get out of my face. 1964 C. Colter in Chicago Rev. XVII. lv/lvi. 169 ‘You git outa my face,’ the newsman whispered. ‘You little bastard, you.’ 1981 N.Y. Times 28 June ii. 1/5 Guys come up to me with their arms outstretched, I say: ‘What's that for?’ And they say, ‘1947, Chicago, remember? We got high together.’ I say: ‘No. Get out of my face.’ 1987 Chicago Tribune 2 Sept. i.3/1 Didn't we ask Iraq to kind of cool it, to stay out of the ayatollah's face for a while? 1991 P. J. O'Rourke Parliament of Whores (1992) 4 It's democracy that doesn't understand its rightful place in the operation of us—to shut up and get out of our faces. |
f. in your face slang (
orig. U.S.), (
a) as
int. phr., an exclamation of scorn or derision; (
b) as
adj. phr. (
freq. hyphenated) bold or aggressive; blatant, provocative, brash.
| 1976 C. Rosen Mile Above Rim xv. 159 ‘Stuffed!’ shouted the taller boy. ‘Doobie got himself stuffed!.. In yo' face, Doobie!’ 1977 Washington Post 25 Feb. (Nexis) d1 Pipkin was the epitome of the ‘hot dog’, interested only in a personal, in-your-face confrontation with the defender of the moment. 1979 Verbatim Summer 6/2 The expression ‘Face!’ Apparently, it is an abbreviation of ‘In your face, Ace!’ 1990 Mizell & Brown Faces (song) in L. A. Stanley Rap: the Lyrics (1992) 268 In your face all the time All in your face when I'm kickin' my rhyme. 1990 Chicago Sun-Times 30 Nov. i. 90/1 Ismail is unusual in that he's not you prototypical chest-out, in-your-face, strut-your-stuff star. 1992 N.Y. Times 6 June 23/1 The voters are saying, ‘In your face, Bush!’ They are saying, ‘In your face, Clinton!’ That's because the voters are stressed out. 1993 Face Sept. 109/1 Testosterone-fuelled in your face and on your case macho is not his bag. |
▸
Brit.one's face fits and variants: one is acceptable or suited to a particular group, social context, etc.; one possesses or is judged to possess the necessary attributes or qualities. Freq. in negative contexts.
| 1963 T. Morris & P. Morris Pentonville iv. 91 There are plenty of cases where a man's face doesn't fit. 1977 Economist 13 Aug. 92/1 Anglo-American..underestimated the depth of Afrikaner distrust... Iscor wanted to accept, but was overruled by the government. The financial community..thinks the real reason is that Anglo's face does not fit. 1987 Bicycle Action Aug. 50/1 Some people say you get on a team if your face fits. 1991 G. Butler Coffin Underground 152 Perhaps your face had to fit to get the kindness, you had to belong. 1999 Independent 2 Jan. (Mag.) 16/2 [He] is another of the many shown the door because his face didn't fit. |
▸
slang.
off (or out of) one's face: intoxicated by drugs or alcohol,
esp. to the point of losing one's inhibitions or becoming incapacitated.
| [1972 E. Grogan Ringolevio 46 Both of them were goofballed out of their faces and were hardly able to see straight.] 1987 K. Lette Girls' Night Out (1989) 61, I was a bit off my face and he came into the Ladies after me. 1993 R. Lowe & W. Shaw Travellers 171 There are bigger buzzes in your life than just drugs. You can get out of your face but there's a natural buzz when you watch a place fill up like that. 2000 Sun-Herald (Sydney) 18 June 87/5 To a huge percentage of people who consume the gazillions of litres of booze produced in this country every year, it's just a cheap and readily available means of getting off their faces. |
▸
face time n. colloq. (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.)
(a) time spent appearing in the media; media exposure or attention;
(b) time spent face to face with another person,
esp. a person regarded as important; interpersonal contact.
| 1978 U.S. News & World Rep. 4 Sept. 17/3 The President himself drops by the White House press room to announce or call attention to events that reflect favorably on the administration, thus guaranteeing himself a few precious seconds of ‘*face time’ on the evening TV news. 1988 Observer 8 May (Colour Suppl.) 43/1, I have business lunches all the time. The Americans call it ‘doing face time’. 1994 Sunday Tel. 13 Feb. 18/8 Facetime is what you have with your boss in a one-to-one meeting. It's a measure of your influence or standing. A person might say: ‘He has a lot of facetime with Bob, but I only get to call him on the telephone.’ 2000 N.Y. Times 20 Sept. d1/1 Celebrities and politicians, knowing this was as good a moment as any to get some television face time, showed up at the Monday night game between Washington and Dallas. |
▪ II. face, v. (
feɪs)
[f. prec. n.] I. To show a bold or opposing front.
† 1. a. intr. To show a bold face, look big; to brag, boast, swagger. Phrase,
to face and brace: (see
brace v.
2).
Obs.| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 145 Facyn, or shewyn boolde face. 1509 Barclay Shyp of Folys 22 A fals extorcyoner Fasynge and bostynge to scratche and to kepe. 1601 R. Yarington Two Lament. Traj. iii. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, Wilt thou..Face and make semblance..Of that thou never meanst to execute? |
† b. In primero. (
Cf. bluff,
brag.)
Obs.| 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits viii. 112 To play well at Primero, and to face and vie, and to hold and giue ouer when time serueth..are all workes of the imagination. |
† c. To show a false face, maintain a false appearance.
Obs.| 1570 R. Ascham Scholem. i. (Arb.) 54 To laughe, to lie, to flatter, to face: Foure waies in Court to win men grace. 1589 Hay any Work 39 Thou canst cog, face and lye, as fast as a dog can trot. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. iii. 142 Suffolke doth not flatter, face, or faine. |
† d. To have a (specified) appearance.
Obs.| 1669 N. Morton New Eng. Mem. 106 The evil consequences thereof faced very sadly. |
† 2. trans. a. To confront with assurance or impudence; to brave, to bully.
b. to face a lie (upon), to tell a manifest untruth (to).
Obs.| 1465 Paston Lett. No. 512 II. 205 My Lord of Suffolks men come..and face us and fray uppon us, this dayly. 1530 Palsgr. 542/2 Yet he wolde face me with a lye. 1533 More Answ. Poysoned Bk. Wks. 1131/2 He..faceth himself the lie upon me. c 1540 Heywood Four P.P. in Hazl. Dodsley I. 382 But his boldness hath faced a lie. 1548 Hall Chron. 59 b, The straunger so faced the Englisheman, that he faynted in hys sute. 1625 Bacon Ess., Truth (Arb.) 501 For a Lie faces God, and shrinkes from Man. 1632 Massinger Emperor of the East v. i, I have built no palaces to face the court. |
3. With advbs.
a. to face down, out: to put down (a person) with effrontery, to browbeat; to controvert (an objection, the truth) with coolness or impudence; to maintain (a statement) impudently. Also with sentence as
obj.: to maintain or insist to a person's face that [etc.].
to face out of countenance: to confront and disconcert (
cf. countenance n. 6 b);
to face up:
intr. to show a bold face; with
to, to oppose (a person), confront (a problem, etc.). (See also
quot. 1954 for use in
Boxing.)
b. to face out (a matter, etc.): to carry through by effrontery, brazen out.
† to face it out with a card of ten: see 1 b and
card n.2 2 a.
c. † to face out of: to exclude shamelessly from; also, to bully out of.
| a. 1530 Palsgr. 542/2, I face one downe in a mater. 1533 More Answ. Poysoned Bk. Wks. 1131/2 He..scoffeth that I face out the trouth with lyes. 1580 Lupton Sivqila in Polimanteia (1881) p. xvii, And so faced out thy poore Father before our face. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iii. i. 6 Here's a villaine that would face me downe He met me on the Mart. 1667 Dryden Sir Martin iv. i, I'll not be faced down with a lie. 1787 Wesley in Wks. 1872 IV. 401 The clerk faced me down I had taken the coach for Sunday. 1860 Froude Hist. Eng. VI. 100 With Paget's help she faced down these objections. |
| 1854 Punch 27 May 222/1 Is he to be faced out of countenance by a young whipper-snapper? 1920 W. Raleigh Let. 4 Sept. (1928) II. 519 He faced up to the paradox of man. 1925 Mrs. Belloc Lowndes Some Men & Women 155 She was a woman who always faced up to the realities of life. 1935 Punch 4 Sept. 260/2 It was our duty as guardians of the children to face up to the situation. 1939 [see appease v. 2 c]. 1954 F. C. Avis Boxing Ref. Dict., Face up, to square up in the approved way to an opponent. 1958 Times 8 Sept. 9/4 No longer does a man face a problem; he faces up to it. |
| b. 1543 Bale Yet a Course 59 Now, face out your matter with a carde of tenne. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 202 The Roscians kinsfolke have boldly adventured, and will face out their doynges. 1579 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 73 To..face it oute lustelye as sum other good fellowes doe. a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. i. xii. §2 (1622) 125 Obluctation, and facing out of the matter. 1630 B. Jonson New Inn i. iii, Cards of ten, to face it Out in the game. 1876 Trevelyan Macaulay (1876) I. i. 15 Unless they could make up their minds..to face it out. |
| c. c 1530 More Answ. Frith iv. Wks. 1132/2 Your false heresy, wherwith you would face our Sauiour out of the blessed sacrament. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iv. ii. 101 They ..doe all they can to face me out of my wits. Ibid. v. i. 91 His false cunning..Taught him to face me out of his acquaintance. |
4. a. trans. To meet (danger, an enemy, or anything unpleasant) face to face; to meet in front, oppose with confidence or defiance.
to face the music: see
music n. 11.
| 1659 B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 79 A great body of Nobility march..briskly on, to face that potent Emperour Osman. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) VIII. 7 These silly ranting Privolvans..face their Neighbours Hand to Hand. 1708 Addison State of War 25 We..cast about for a sufficient number of Troops to face them [the enemy] in the Field of Battle. a 1745 Swift (J.), They are as loth to see the fires kindled in Smithfield as his lordship; and, at least, as ready to face them. 1798 Ferriar Illustr. Sterne v. 150 He faced the storm gallantly. 1808 J. Barlow Columb. iv. 143 To face alone The jealous vengeance of the papal throne. 1842 Macaulay Horatius xxvii, How can man die better Than facing fearful odds? 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. Fleet ii. xviii. (1883) 250 A man will face almost anything rather than possible ridicule. |
b. To appear before (a city) as an enemy.
| c 1645 Tullie Siege Carlisle (1840) 1 They..p'ceeded..to face Carlisle with a Rascall rout in 1643. 1677 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 284 A small party..with which he faced the City Walls. |
c. Ice Hockey and
Lacrosse. (Esp. with
off).
intr. To start or restart play by (the referee or linesman) dropping the puck, or ball, between the sticks of two opposing players. Also
trans., to place the puck, or ball, in this way.
| 1867 Laws of La Crosse 6 Should the ball lodge in any spot inaccessible to the ‘crosse’ it may be taken out by the hand and immediately placed on the ‘crosse’, but should an opponent be checking and cry ‘face’, it must be faced for. 1882 Rules of Lacrosse 15 Should the ball lodge in any place inaccessible to the crosse, it may be taken out by the hand; and the party picking it up must ‘face’ with his nearest opponent. 1897 Medicine Hat (Alta.) News 25 Feb. 1/6 Ben Niblock scored the first goal for Medicine Hat a few seconds after the puck was faced. 1910 [see facing vbl. n. 2 b]. 1958 Vancouver Province 12 May 11/5 Reeve John Stolberg faced off the ball. |
5. a. In weaker sense: To look in the face of; to meet face to face; to stand fronting.
lit. and
fig.| 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. 303 Facing the Iudge and pleading both our best. 1779 F. Burney Diary Nov., If I faced him he must see my merriment was not merely at his humour. 1841 Elphinstone Hist. Ind. II. 275 He performed the journey..with such celerity that..he..faced his enemy..on the ninth day. 1853 Kingsley Hypatia ix. 110 Might he but face the terrible enchantress. 1883 Manch. Exam. 24 Nov. 5/2 The great problem which faces every inquirer into the causes of colliery explosions. |
b. Esp.
pass. To be confronted
with.
| 1920 Challenge 21 May 44/2 An extrovert soldier faced with the problem of escape from war conditions. |
6. To look seriously and steadily at, not to shrink from. Also,
to face the facts; (
colloq.)
let us (or let's) face it: let us not shrink from recognizing some unwelcome fact(s).
| 1795 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) IV. 116 My own quiet required that I should face it [the idea] and examine it. 1828 D'Israeli Chas. I, II. v. 104 A lawyer in the habit of facing a question but on one side, can rarely be a philosopher, who looks on both. 1883 S. S. Lloyd in North Star 25 Oct. 3/7 The need for external supplies of food..must be faced. 1911 G. B. Shaw Getting Married 249 You'll want half a dozen different sorts of contract. The Bishop: Well, if so, let us draw them all up. Let us face it. 1913 Galsworthy Fugitive i, We've got to face the facts. 1922 N. Angell Press & Organiz. Society ii. 43 Let us face the truth. 1928 Wodehouse Money for Nothing v. 83 John—she had to face it—was a jellyfish. 1932 ― Louder & Funnier 46 One has got to face facts. 1937 W. S. Maugham Theatre xxi. 203 But let's face it, I've never been in love with you any more than you've been in love with me. 1958 I. Murdoch Bell i. 11 To the pain of Paul and his friends the expression ‘let's face it’..was still frequently on her lips. |
II. With reference to the direction of the face.
7. intr. a. Of persons and animals: To present the face in a certain direction; to look.
lit. and
fig.| 1594 W. S. in Shaks. C. Praise 9, I know thy griefe, And face from whence these flames aryse. 1672 Dryden Conq. Granada i. i, He [the courser] sidelong bore his Rider on, Still facing, till he out of sight was gone. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India II. 266 The 1st of the 20th, with one company of the 24th, were posted on the larger eminence, facing east and south. 1863 Kinglake Crimea (1877) II. vii. 64 He steadfastly faced towards peace. 1882 Hinsdale Garfield & Educ. i. 117 He faced to law and politics, to science and to literature. |
b. Of things: To be, or be situated, with the face or front in some specified direction; to front. Const.
on,
to.
| 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) IV. 71 Saucers rust-coloured, large, facing downwards. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 113 Dagger, a piece of timber that faces on to the poppets of the bilgeways. 1852 Thackeray Esmond i. iii, The little chapel that faced eastwards. 1884 Times (weekly ed.) 29 Aug. 14/2 The village faces full to the south. 1887 Pall Mall G. 22 Aug. 11/2 The really picturesque side of the hall, facing on a lovely lake. |
8. trans. a. Of persons and animals: To present the face or front towards; to look towards.
b. Of a building, a country, and objects in general: To be situated opposite to, front towards.
| a. 1632 Lithgow Trav. viii. 364 Facing the in-land wee marched for three dayss. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 12 ¶15 Stand facing the light, that we may see you. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 216 He continues to combat..still facing the enemy till he dies. 1886 Sheldon tr. Flaubert's Salammbô 22 Neighing shrilly as they faced the rising sun. |
| b. 1670 Milton Hist. Eng. ii. Wks. (1847) 494/2 He gained ..that part of Britain which faces Ireland. 1705 Addison Italy (1767) 201 The side of the Palatine mountain that faces it. 1746–7 Hervey Medit. (1818) 150 Yonder tree, which faces the south. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. vii. 55 A series of vertical walls..face the observer. 1885 Manch. Exam. 10 June 8/7 The statue..faces the principal entrance to the museum. |
c. Of letterpress, an engraving, etc.: To stand on the opposite page to.
| 1766 Gent. Mag. XXXVI, Directions for placing the plates, The Emblematical Design..to face p. 8. 1887 Pall Mall G. 19 Feb. 5/9 An increased price is paid for advertisements ‘facing matter’. 1890 Ibid. 20 Nov. 2/2 A letter from Mr. Gladstone is good, and an article from him worth several columns ‘facing matter’. Mod. [On a plate inserted in a book] To face page 56. |
d. to face (a person) with: to put before the face of; to confront
with.
| 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. xviii. 109 It was Gods wil to humble his..people by facing them with the temple of a cursed idoll. |
e. With
off. To turn aside (
spec. the current of a stream).
| 1887 Ruskin Præterita II. 384 A little logwork to face off the stream at its angles. |
9. intr. † a. in sense of
face about (see b). Also
refl. Obs.| 1644 Sir H. Slingsby Diary (1836) 112 Upon y⊇ top of y⊇ Hill they [the Scots] face and front towards y⊇ prince. 1666 Pepys Diary 4 June, The Duke did fly; but all this day they have been fighting; therefore they did face again, to be sure. 1691 Lond. Gaz. No. 2662/3 Upon their approach our men faced, and about 20 fired. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. vi, Having got to the top..he faced him. |
b. Chiefly
Mil. To turn the face in a stated direction (left, right, etc.).
to face about,
face to the right about,
face round: to turn the face in the opposite direction. As word of command,
right or left about face!| 1634 Massinger Very Woman iii. i, Let fall your cloak, on one shoulder—face to your left hand. 1647 N. Bacon Disc. Govt. Eng. i. lxiv. (1739) 135 He faces about therefore and..for Scotland he goes. a 1671 Ld. Fairfax Mem. (1699) 51 He..made them face about, and march again into the Town. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4675/1 He commanded them to face to the Left, in order to flank the Enemy. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 109 ¶1 The Knight faced towards one of the Pictures. 1713 ― Englishman No. 55. 353 This elevated Machine..moved through..Cornhil: whence it faced about. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) II. iv. iv. 115 They immediately conjectured that the place had changed masters, and faced about. 1787 Columbian Mag. I. 47 To the right about face! Forward march! Halt, and face to the Front! 1820 Keats Cap & Bells xxxvi. 1 Then facing right about, he saw the Page. 1823 Byron Juan viii. xxviii, The rest had faced unto the right About. 1826 Scott Woodst. i, The minister..faced round upon the party who had seized him. 1841 Lever C. O'Malley lxxxviii, Left face—wheel—quick march! 1844 Regul. & Ord. Army 261 On which the Captain is to face inwards, and the Lieutenant and Ensign face to the right. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (ed. 8) 19 Right or left about three-quarters face. 1863 Kinglake Crimea (1877) III. i. 215 These men had faced about to the front. |
| fig. 1645 Liberty of Consc. 28 In this Sir you have faced about, sure you are not As you were. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. Introd. 217 His Spirit was so stout No Man could ever make him face about. |
10. trans. † a. To attract or direct the face or looks of.
b. Mil. To cause (soldiers) to face, or present the front.
| 1630 Lord Banians & Perses 72 Certaine mimicall gestures, so as may most face the people to gaze upon them. 1667 Waterhouse Fire Lond. 181 The Judgments of God face us to humilitie. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (ed. 8) 30 The company..will be faced, and countermarched. Ibid. 31 The remaining companies first being faced to the right about. |
11. a. To turn face upwards, expose the face of (a playing card).
| 1674 Cotton Complete Gamester in Singer Hist. Cards 344 He clasps these cards faced at the bottom. 1721 S. Centlivre Basset-Table iv, Fac't again;—what's the meaning of this ill luck to-night? 1742 Hoyle Whist 10 If a Card is faced in the Pack, they must deal again, except it is the last Card. 1878 H. H. Gibbs Ombre 19 He places the cards before him, taking care not to face or show any of them. |
b. Post-office. To turn (letters) with their faces in one direction.
| 1850 Q. Rev. June 75 The object..is merely to ‘face’ the stamped and paid letters all the same way. 1889 Pall Mall G. 15 Oct. 7/1 All the letters have been faced, sorted, and stamped. |
III. To put a face upon.
12. a. To cover a certain breadth of (a garment) with another material; to trim, turn up. In
pass. said of the wearer. Also,
to face about,
face down.
| 1561 in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. vi. 189 My gowne of browne blue lyned and faced with black budge. 1592 Greene Art Conny-catch. ii. 2 The Priest was facst afore with Veluet. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1673) 446 They..face about the collars of men and womens garments. 1679 Lond. Gaz. No. 1378/4 A black hair Camlet Gown..faced down before, and on the Cape with Velvet. 1759 Compl. Lett.-writer (ed. 6) 229 Blue cloth, trimmed and faced with white. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xxi, The five Lords of Justiciary, in their long robes of scarlet faced with white. 1855 W. Sargent Braddock's Expedition 291 The uniform of the 44th was red faced with yellow. |
| absol. c 1570 Pride & Lowl. (1841) 20 Silke and lase..To welt, to edge, to garde, to stitche and face. |
† b. transf. and
fig. To trim, adorn, deck, furnish.
| 1565 Jewel Def. Apol. (1611) 241 Would ye rather, for the better facing and colouring of your Doctrin, we should strike out this Forged Quodammodo. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, v. i. 74 To face the Garment of Rebellion With some fine colour. 1630 B. Jonson New Inn i. i. Wks. (Rtldg.) 410/1 An host..who is..at the best some round-grown thing, a jug Faced with a beard, that fills out to the guests. 1645 Milton Colast. Wks. (1847) 221, I saw the stuff..garnished and trimly faced with the commendations of a licenser. 1685 Dryden Albion & Alb. iii. i, Rebellion..fac'd with publick Good! |
13. To cover the surface either wholly or partially with some specified material.
| 1670 Cotton Espernon ii. viii. 349 The Terrass was not yet fac'd with stone. 1677 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 279 With whose heads..the savage Turk faced a great Bulkwark. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 259 Delve of convenient Depth your thrashing Floor; With temper'd Clay then fill and face it o'er. 1715 Desaguliers Fires Impr. 112 If you face the sides of the Chimney with thin Copper. 1803 Phil. Trans. XCIII. 85 The same bar was melted again, and was cast in sand, faced..by charcoal dust. 1856 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XVII. ii. 363 The more modern fence..is faced with stones. |
14. To dress or smooth the face or surface of. Also,
to face down. Also with
up.
| 1848 Mill Pol. Econ. I. 152 One lathe..is kept for facing surfaces. 1873 Tristram Moab vi. 111 Blocks of basalt..some of them finely faced. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. IV. 221/2 The body is carefully faced down till a fine even surface is produced. 1883 Specif. Alnwick & Cornhill Rlwy. 10 All bolt-holes to have bosses cast on them, which are to be faced up. 1889 P. Hasluck Model Engin. Handybk. x. 113 If all the flange joints are faced up absolutely true. 1958 People (Broadway, N.S.W.) 19 Mar. 54 Primitive grinding or cutting machines to ‘face up’ their specimens. 1970 H. Braun Parish Churches vii. 83 From this technique develops the type of walling known as ‘random rubble’ which, properly faced-up.., is frequently met with in pre⁓medieval days. |
15. To coat (tea) with some colouring substance. Also,
to face up.
| 1850 Househ. Words II. 277 The tea-leaf..is ‘faced’ by the French chalk, to give it the pearly appearance so much liked. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 277 The green tea is either natural or coloured (faced) with indigo [etc.]. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 101/1 Exhausted leaves were..faced up to do duty as fresh tea. |
† IV. 16. To deface, disfigure, spoil in appearance. [? Short for
deface.]
Obs.| c 1400 Destr. Troy 9129 Polexena..All facid hir face with hir fell teris. |