▪ I. front, n. (and a.)
(frʌnt)
Forms: 3–7 frount(e, frunt(e, 4 Sc. froynt(t, 4–6 fronte, 4, 6 frownt, (4 frond), 3– front.
[a. OF. and Fr. front, ad. L. front-em, frōns the forehead.]
I. Forehead, face.
1. a. = forehead 1. Now only poet. or in highly rhetorical language.
| c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 169/2176 Bote fram þe riȝt half of is frount. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints, Machor 1547 Þe takine of þe cors to mak, one þar froynttis. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 47 A sterre whit Amiddes in her front she [the hors] hadde. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 405 Þe calf is rede I undertake, With a white sterne in þe fronte. 1481 Caxton Myrr. ii. v. 71 Peple ther..haue only but one eye, and that standeth right in the myddys of the fronte or forhede. 1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. vi. 4 b, On theyr heads a Saracoll of Crymson velvet, and before the front the bande, a silver socket set with long feathers. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 56 See what a grace was seated on his Brow, Hyperions curles, the front of Ioue himselfe. 1671 Milton Samson 496 The mark of fool set on his front! 1735 Somerville Chase iii. 513 Soon he rears Erect his tow'ring Front. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scand. A Portrait 13 Ye matron censors..Whose peering eye and wrinkled front declare, etc. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles vi. xxxvii, And bore he..Such noble front, such waving hair? 1847 Lytton Lucretia (1853) 227 Her nostrils dilated, and her front rose erect. 1884 W. Allingham Blackberries (1890) 88 Blear eyes, huge ears, and front of ape. |
b. in
fig. phrases, after Shakespeare.
| 1604 Shakes. Oth. i. iii. 80 The verie head, and front of my offending. Ibid. iii. i. 52 (Qq.) To take the safest occasion by the front. 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) I. 15 This was the whole front of his offending. 1878 Morley Condorcet 37 Placing social aims at the head and front of his life. |
c. rarely used
techn.,
e.g. in
Entomology.
| 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. (1828) III. xxxiv. 483 The front of insects may be denominated the middle part of the face between the eyes. |
2. By extension: The whole face.
Cf. Fr. front.
front to front (
arch.)
= face to face: see
face 2 d.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. ix. ix. (1495) 354 Januarius is paynted wyth two frontes to shewe and to teche the begynnynge and ende of the yere. c 1450 Mirour Saluacioun 791 Nor hire nekke nor hire front vsed sho to bere vppright. 1508 Dunbar Flyting w. Kennedie 84 Fy! feyndly front, far fowlar than ane fen. a 1605 Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 784 Jock Blunt, thrawin frunt! 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. iii. 232 Front to Front, Bring thou this Fiend of Scotland and my selfe. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 82 Brazen Impudence..hath two fronts, its boasting one, and bold one: with the one they look back..the other looketh forward. 1697 Creech Manilius i. ix, They stand not front to front, but each doth view The others Tayl, pursu'd as they pursue. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 292 Antelopes..guarding their Fronts, scampering with their Heads to the Earth, to avoid the..Enemy aloft. 1767 Sir W. Jones 7 Fountains Poems (1777) 50 Till thrice the sun his rising front has shown. 1802 Beddoes Hygëia ii. 39 Those..have the courage to treat it, front to front, in a manner corresponding to the enormity of the consequences [etc.]. 1855 Tennyson Maud ii. i. 28 For front to front in an hour we stood. |
3. † a. The face as expressive of emotion or character; expression of countenance (
obs.).
b. Bearing or demeanour in confronting anything; degree of composure or confidence in the presence of danger, etc. Also outward appearance or aspect; fa{cced}ade;
spec. a bluff. Also
fig. Cf. sense 7 g.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. viii. 47 (Camb. MS.) Whan she [fortune] descouereth hir frownt and sheweth hir maneres. c 1477 Caxton Jason 104 b, [Medea] commanded that her ladies..shold put on the fayr fronte in entencion to make feste solempne. 1637 Heywood Royall King i. Wks. 1874 VI. 17 That face..beares the selfe-same front. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 20 ¶3 A Fellow that is capable of shewing an impudent Front before a whole Congregation. 1762 Falconer Shipwr. ii. 347 Who, patient in adversity, still bear The firmest front. 1800–24 Campbell Poems, Visiting Scene in Ayrshire iv, Through the perils of chance..May thy front be unalter'd. 1821 Scott Kenilw. vi, The..unclouded front of an accomplished courtier. 1873–4 Dixon Two Queens IV. xxii. ix. 221 Kildare..resolved to..meet his accusers with a brazen front. 1900 ‘Flynt’ & Walton Powers that Prey 181 It riles a bloke's sense o' justice to be accused false an' helps him to put up a front. 1934 J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra (1935) 27 There was dancing and a hat-check girl and waiters in uniform and all that front. 1949 E. Coxhead Wind in West vii. 193 While he still put a good front on the affair, she said nothing. 1952 A. Baron With Hope, Farewell 124 It was only a front. He was scared stiff. 1953 R. Lehmann Echoing Grove 136 Will you kindly assist me to preserve a front till Monday?.. My parents have been through enough—we've got to put a face on it. |
| transf. 1855 Prescott Philip II, I. ii. xiv. 309 The league, which had raised so bold a front against the government, had crumbled away. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 76 The lime⁓stone bastions..preserved a front of gloom and grandeur. |
4. Effrontery, impudence.
Cf. face 7,
forehead 2. Now
rare. So,
† man of front.
to have the front: to be sufficiently impudent.
| 1653 H. More Antid. Ath. iii. ix. (1712) 170, I..wonder how any man, except one of the most hardened front, can [etc.]. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 168 ¶3 Men of Front carry Things before 'em with little Opposition. 1717 De Foe Mem. Ch. Scot. (1844) 5 With what Front the Absurdities charg'd on her could be broach'd in the World. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. 293 None of the commissioners had the front to pronounce that [etc.]. |
II. Foremost part.
5. Mil. a. The foremost line or part of an army or battalion. Also,
† a rank (
obs.), and in words of command;
e.g. files to the front,
right in front.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 3584 In sexe semli batailes..al be fore in þe frond he ferde þan him-selue. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1278 Þan..ffrochit into þe frount & a fray made. 1470–85 Malory Arthur ii. x. 87 But alweyes kyng Lot helde hym in the formest frunte. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres Gloss. 250 Fronte, a French word, is the face or foreparte of a squadron or battell. 1607 Shakes. Cor. i. vi. 8 Both our powers, with smiling Fronts encountring. 1625 Markham Souldiers Accid. 6 The Rankes are called Frunts, because they stand formost..but in truth none can properly be called the Frunt, but the ranke which standeth formost. 1667 Milton P.L. vi. 105 Front to Front Presented stood in terrible array. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 378 As Legions in the Field their Front display. 1700 S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 61 Commanded Captain Jochem, who led the Blacks, to march in the Front. 1775 R. King in Life & Corr. (1894) I. 9 They..began their march, with a very wide Front. 1838–43 Arnold Hist. Rome III. xliii. 141 The..Gaulish horse charged the Romans front to front. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 7 Files to the front. Ibid. 18 A column Left in front will bring its rear companies to the front. Ibid. 19 Open column, right in front—right about face. |
b. Line of battle.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xvii. 569 The Ingliss men com on sadly..Richt in a frount vith a baner. c 1400 Destr. Troy 10869 And all fore to þe fight in a frunt hole. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 249 They used to terrifie the Barbarians, setting their Horses in a double front, so as they appeared headed both wayes. 1623 Bingham Xenophon 78 If we aduance in a large Front..if in a narrow Front. 1667 Milton P.L. i. 563 Advanc't in view they stand, a horrid Front Of dreadful length. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4744/2 Our ..Army..marched..to Attack the Enemy in full Front. 1838 Thirlwall Greece III. 349 The Spartans..preserving an even and unbroken front. 1886 Daily News 13 Sept. 5/7 The troops marched past, the infantry in company fronts and the cavalry by half squadrons. |
c. The foremost part of the ground occupied, or in wider sense, of the field of operations; the part next the enemy.
| 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 440 Not onely the Front as heretofore, but the backside also..rendred unsafe. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. II. xli. 504 Belisarius protected his front with a deep trench. 1810 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. VI. 367, I propose to move up the infantry of the army to the front again. 1844 H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 320 One division..was sent to take the stockades in rear, while another..threatened them from the front. 1879 J. C. Fife-Cookson Armies of Balkans i. 6 To see him before his departure for the front next day. 1889 R. Kipling Wee Willie Winkie 72 British Regiments were wanted—badly wanted—at the Front. 1944 Hutchinson's Pict. Hist. War 27 Oct. '43–11 Apr. '44 237 A 20-mile advance on the south of the bulge which opened up a ‘breakthrough’ front 60 miles in width. 1967 J. Marshall-Cornwall Napoleon iv. 50 Only 25,000 were available as a mobile field force, and these were extended..on a front of about 30 miles. |
| fig. 1846 Greener Sci. Gunnery 54 The present state of our artillery requires an advance to the front, to be in a line with the march of science. |
d. The direction towards which the line faces when formed.
change of front: see
change v. 9 b; in
quot. fig. to make front to: to face in the direction of; in
quot. fig.| 1832 in Prop. Regul. Instr. Cavalry iii. 46. 1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 14 The whole will face, as accurately as possible, to their former front. 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. i. i. (1872) 9 The improvised Municipals make front to this also. 1879 Lubbock Addr. Pol. & Educ. iv. 92 This change of front seems to be founded on the report of the Board of Education for Scotland. 1891 Daily News 28 Nov. 5/6 The eventuality of a war with two fronts—that is to say, with France and Russia—was foreseen. |
e. front of fortification: see
quot. 1859.
| 1851 J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. 23 The outline above traced is called a Front of Fortification. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 261 A Front of Fortification consists of two half bastions, and a curtain. |
f. transf. With preceding epithet, an organized sector of activity, as
domestic front,
home front, etc.
| 1919 Punch's Hist. Gt. War 19 The trials..on the home front. 1929 Nation 4 Dec. 696/1 Gleb's victory on the economic front is somewhat spoiled by his partial defeat on the ‘domestic front’. 1934 A. Huxley Beyond Mexique Bay 6 The amusement front had its duly appointed commissar. 1938 Ann. Reg. 1937 67 Sir A. Sinclair complained that the Government was concentrating its energies too much on preparations for attack, to the neglect of what was commonly known as ‘the home front’. 1941 Punch 3 Sept. 211/3 My sister..writes..of the many..economical dishes she is now able to prepare as a result of the B.B.C. talks on the Kitchen Front. 1959 Encounter July 79/2 Myths of Soviet home-front propaganda. 1969 Times 6 Jan. 7/8 But the industry is fighting back on the marketing as well as the political front. |
g. transf. An organized body of political forces.
| 1926 D. L. Sayers Clouds of Witness vii. 157 A woman..looking like a personification of the United Front of the ‘Internationale’. 1934 Ann. Reg. 1933 ii. 171 A uniform National-Socialist organisation embracing all German workers was called into existence under the designation ‘The German Workers' Front’. 1936 E. A. Peers Spanish Tragedy 1930–36 iv. 188 And combine under him [sc. Sr. Azaña] they did—Republican Left, Republican Union, Socialists, Syndicalists, Anarchists, Marxists and Communists—forming, for the purpose of the election campaign, a united phalanx, a ‘Popular Front’, as they called it: Frente Popular. 1940 Amer. Speech XV. 453/2 He [sc. Dimitrov]..urged members of the Communist Party to organize ‘Popular Fronts’ in the democracies. 1968 Listener 15 Aug. 195/2 The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. |
6. Arch. ‘Any side or face of a building, but more commonly used to denote the entrance side’ (Gwilt);
occas. collect. in sing., and pl. = ‘the four sides’ (of a mansion). Also
back-front,
rear-front.
| 1365 Durham Halm. Rolls (Surtees) 41 Non fecit clausuram tenementi sui de le front. 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xl. 9 He metide..the frount therof in two cubitis. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 181/1 Frownt, or frunt of a churche, or oþer howsys. 1624 Wotton Archit. (1672) 16 And the contrary fault of low distended Fronts, is as unseemly. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 265 A Building, which is 25 Feet, both in the Front and Reer Front. 1760–72 tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) II. 32 The fronts being of stone. 1806 Gazetteer Scotl. (ed. 2) 144 The Town-house, an elegant structure, with a handsome front. 1841 W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. III. 150 Monastic cloisters with their dark length of front. Ibid. 166 One of the back-fronts of the old palace. 1888 Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. xii. 355 The garden front was most inconveniently embowered..in forest trees. 1893 W. P. Courtney in Academy 13 May 413/1 The fronts of the mansion were decorated with statues by skilled sculptors. |
7. a. gen. The part or side of an object which seems to look out or to be presented to the eye; the fore-part of anything, the part to which one normally comes first. Opposed to
back,
esp. in objects that have only two sides.
Cf. back n. 3.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 10814 In þe frunt of þat faire yle, Was a prouynse of prise. 1555 Eden Decades 85 We found the fyrst front of this land to bee broader. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 41 b, A lowe kinde of Carre with a couple of wheeles, and the Frunt armed with sharpe Syckles. 1605 Shakes. Macb. v. viii. 47 Had he his hurts before? I, on the Front. 1705 Addison Italy 5 The Front to the Sea is not large, but there are a great many Houses behind it built up the Side of the Mountain. 1788 Gibbon Decl. & F. I. (Milman) V. 2 The southern basis presents a front of a thousand miles to the Indian Ocean. 1823 H. J. Brooke Introd. Crystallogr. 287 The opposite angles, edges, and planes, which are supposed to form the back of the engraved figure, are respectively similar to those which appear on its front. 1851 Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 398 The sternum itself being so largely developed, as to cover almost the entire front of the body. 1893 F. W. Maitland Mem. de Parl. Introd. 92 The skin being thin, the writing on the front could be seen upon the back. |
b. transf. With reference to time: The first period; the beginning.
poet.| c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. cii, Philomel in summer's front doth sing. 1842 Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 28 More black than ashbuds in the front of March. 1883 Stevenson Silverado Sq. 237 A hawthorn in the front of June. |
† c. = frontier n. 4.
Obs.| 1589 Greene Sp. Masquerado Wks. (Grosart) V. 256 When the Sarasens..had inuaded Germanie, and the frontes of France. 1593 Hollyband Fr. Dict. P 2 b, Les frontieres d'vn pais, the frontiers of a countrey: the front or marches. |
d. Mining.
= face 20 a.
| 1717 tr. Frezier's Voy. S. Sea 183 A Mine, which is 40 Varas, or Spanish Yards in Front. 1867 W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 140 Let us now turn our attention to the ‘face’ or front of the working. |
e. Land facing a road, river, the sea, etc.; a frontage.
spec. with
the: the promenade of a seaside resort, often with adjoining gardens.
Cf. sea-front 2.
| 1766 Laws of N. Carolina (1791) 234 The Water Fronts of the Lots herein before mentioned. 1769 Bp. Wilton Inclos. Act 2 Occupiers of ancient messuages, cottages, houses or fronts. 1904 Ward, Lock's Guide Isle of Man 44 The Queen's Promenade..is the part of the Front most favoured by visitors with a taste for quiet. 1920 Glasgow Herald 17 July 7 For them the ‘front’, palpitating with cheerful humanity, is Elysium. 1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock i. i. 20 A blow along the front'll do you good. Ibid. iii. 42 I'd like to have asked them why he left me like that, to go scampering down the front in that sun. |
f. Theatrical. (See
quots.) Also
front-of-(the-)house attrib. phr.| 1806 G. F. Cooke Diary 6 Dec. in W. Dunlap Mem. G.F.C. (1813) I. 328 Went to the theatre..passed Mr Rae into the front of the house. 1810 Scott Fam. Lett. 30 Mar. (1894) I. 174 There was fine work in the front, as they call the audience part of the house. 1894 Evening News 18 Oct. 2/6 Generally speaking, the ‘front of the house’ means the audience; but among theatrical employés the ‘front of the house’ means everybody engaged to work before the curtain. 1930 C. H. Ridge Stage Lighting iv. 62 Front-of-the-house lighting tends to flatness. 1935 Ridge & Aldred Stage Lighting viii. 73/2 The following notes may serve to sum up the subject of Front-of-House Lighting. 1961 Bowman & Ball Theatre Lang. 149 Front of house; front-of-house; front of the house; abbreviation, F.O.H. 1. The parts of the theatre in front of the proscenium arch. Hence, said of equipment placed therein, as, a front of house light... 4. The personnel and operations of the business staff, including the ushers, as, the front of house staff. 1985 Financial Times 20 July p. xiii/5 The ICA itself provides the performing space and front of house facilities. |
g. A person, organization, etc., that serves as a cover for subversive or illegal activities. So
front man,
front organization.
orig. U.S.| 1905 McClure's Mag. XXIV. 346 For Brayton was the front, not the head of the System. 1926 J. Black You can't Win iv. 27 The store was but a ‘front’ or blind for a poker game and dice games in the back room. 1934 H. N. Rose Thesaurus of Slang 25/1 Representative Who Poses as the ‘Big Shot’ of a Gang (n. phr.): the front man. 1938 H. Asbury Sucker's Progr. 345 Their agent and front man was the Chief of Police. 1940 in Amer. Speech (1941) XVI. 146/2 Foreign ‘isms’..masquerading behind ‘front’ organizations. 1940 Time 29 Jan. 23/3 Department of Justice investigators believe that Earl Browder is a mere front-man. 1949 M. Miller Sure Thing (1950) 67 It's a front; the Commies control it. Ibid. 70 ‘I attended a camp of the Youth League of America.’ ‘You knew..that was merely a front for the Communist Party.’ 1951 J. Cornish Provincials 213, I dare say it was all a ‘front’ for spy activities. 1959 ‘M. Erskine’ House of Enchantress ix. 130 He was..respectable-looking and meek,..just the type to make an excellent front for Madame Rosario. 1960 Spectator 16 Sept. 408 He becomes the nark and front-man for an unscrupulous white landlord in a slum-house area. 1965 Ibid. 19 Feb. 220/1 A Communist ‘front’ organisation formed and financed by the Communist régime in North Vietnam. |
h. Meteorol. A bounding surface or a transition zone between two air masses at different temperatures; also, the line on the ground that marks the lower edge of this surface; so
cold front,
warm front: the forward boundary of a mass of advancing cold, or warm, air.
| 1921 Bjerknes & Solberg in Geofysiske Publikationer II. iii. 12 In the first case, the boundary line at the ground will be the front of advancing cold air, or, to introduce a shorter expression, a ‘cold front’. In the latter case, the boundary line will be the front of advancing warm air, or simply a ‘warm front’. 1923 N. Shaw Air & its Ways vii. 74 The polar front is regarded as being a bank of air with stream lines..over which the equatorial air is advancing gradually upward by motion directly transverse to the line of motion in the front. 1938 Nature 29 Oct. 804/1 Any pressure system, such as a cyclone, an anticyclone, a trough or a front. 1956 Weather May 147 The front is not a surface but a zone of rapid temperature transition between air masses. 1957 Times 11 May 7/1 A depression near Ireland will be slow moving and associated weak fronts will move slowly N.E. to E. districts. 1970 R. W. Longley Elem. Meteorol. x. 223 A frontal surface is the bounding surface between two air masses... The front is the intersection of such a frontal surface with the ground. |
† 8. a. The first part or line of anything written or printed.
in the front: at the head.
Obs.| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 435, I could not but in y⊇ very front and beginning of my letter, use this. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. iii. i. xx. (ed. 7) 324 Six Columnes, every front or head whereof is noted with three great letters, D.M.S. signifying degrees, minutes, and seconds. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 94 A Catalogue of above three hundred Advisers, and his name in the Front. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. vi. 17 Thy Name..Shall in the front of every Page be shown. |
† b. = frontispiece n. 3 or 4.
Obs.| 1647 Crashaw Poems 128 If with distinctive eye and mind you look Upon the front, you see more than one book. a 1718 Penn Life Wks. 1726 I. 147 Which the Reader may find in the Front of the Books they [the Prefaces] were designed for. |
9. a. A fore-part or piece having some particular use or function.
| 1847 A. M. Gilliam Trav. Mexico 152 The body of the wagon is about equally balanced over the axletree, the front resting upon the tongue. 1851 Offic. Catal. Gt. Exhib. I. 467 Pianoforte..in newly designed case with sliding front. Ibid. II. 526 Boots and shoes..with elastic fronts and sides. |
† b. = frontal n. 2.
Obs.| 1533 in Weaver Wells Wills (1890) 148 To the gyltyng of the ffrownt at the hye auter. 1539 Peterboro' Inv. in N. & Q. 3rd Ser. IV. 459 In the Rood Loft..one front of painted cloth. 1552–3 Inv. Ch. Goods Staffs. in Ann. Lichfield IV. 66 One fronte for an alter of yelowe and grene satten. |
c. A band or bands of false hair, or a set of false curls, worn by women over the forehead.
| 1687 Congreve Old Bach. iv. iv, I undertook the modelling of one of their fronts, the more modern structure. 1837 Thackeray Ravenswing i, Mamma means her front! 1865 Trollope Belton Est. xvii, The graces of her own hair had given way to a front. 1886 Pall Mall G. 24 Aug. 13/2 A..black velvet band..to keep her auburn front..in its place. |
d. That part of a man's shirt which covers the chest and is more or less displayed; a shirt-front; also, a ‘dicky’; also, a similar article of silk, etc. serving as a cravat.
| 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xvii, What a very few shirts there are, and what a many fronts. 1851 Offic. Catal. Gt. Exhib. II. 579 Gentlemen's fronts and stocks. |
e. The front part of a woman's garment.
| 1801 Jane Austen Let. 5 May (1932) I. 125 It is to be a round gown, with a jacket and a frock front..to open at the side. Ibid., The front is sloped round to the bosom and drawn in. 1889 Daily News 23 July 7/2 The travelling mantle..buttons the whole way down the front, and is provided with over-fronts which fall straight from the shoulders. Ibid., These fronts are lined with yellow and pink..surah. 1932 E. Bowen To North iv. 38 One wore frills down her front, she was going to have a baby. |
10. A position or place situated before something or towards a spectator; forward position or situation. Only in phrases with prefixed
prep. a. in (the) front of (
prep. phr.): at a position before, in advance of, facing, or confronting; at the head of (troops).
in his, our, etc. front: in front of or facing him, us, etc.
The article is now omitted,
exc. in expressions like
in the (very) front of (danger etc.) = ‘in the position most exposed to’, ‘bearing the brunt of’.
| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 144, I saw..a pragmatical Portugal..in the front of 40 men marching to the Governor's. 1712 W. Rogers Voy. 174 We..fir'd..at the Men in Arms in the front of the Church. 1777 Watson Philip II (1839) 143 Behind him there was a little wood and the walls of a convent; and in his front, the morass above mentioned, which was almost impassable. 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) I. 225 The standards were faced about, and formed in our fronts. 1847 A. M. Gilliam Trav. Mexico 256, I was particular to make my servants keep in front of me. 1853 Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 144 Forcing a passage across the river in his front. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 1 The proclamation was repeated..in front of the Royal Exchange. |
| fig. 1609 Tourneur Funeral Poeme on Sir F. Vere 172, I the front Of danger where he did his deedes advance. 1817 Chalmers Astron. Disc. v. (1852) 124 Those holy..men..in the front of severest obloquy, are now labouring in remotest lands. 1848 W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc's Hist. Ten Y. II. 345 In the very front of danger. 1892 Spectator 12 Mar. 353/1 His majesty will speedily be in front of a new difficulty. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 28 July 9/2 The shares had nothing in front of them—no preference or debenture capital. |
b. in († the) front (
advb. phr.): in an advanced or forward position; on the side that meets the eye; in a position facing the spectator.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 380 With his whole forces, in front, [he] assailed. 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 21 By comes a Christning, with the Reader and the Midwife strutting in the Front. 1748 F. Smith Voy. Disc. I. 133 The upper Story had the two Captains Cabins in Front. 1821 G. W. Manby Voy. Greenland (1823) 134 Determined..to attack him [a bear] in front, I got upon the ice. 1847 A. M. Gilliam Trav. Mexico 76 These dirt hovels presented a bold contrast with the city behind, and the wealthy church in front. Ibid. 99 A kind of shawl [which] by being crossed in front, obscures the bosom. 1879 G. C. Harlan Eyesight ix. 129 The most injurious direction for light to come from is that directly in front. 1895 Scot. Antiq. X. 78 Setting an old press in front so as to conceal the door. |
c. to the front (of): to a position in front (of).
| 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 235 Being removed to the front of a brisk fire, a strong ebullition commenced. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid v. 150 Far to the front shoots Gyas.. Gliding ahead on the water. |
d. to come to the front: to become conspicuous, be revealed, emerge into publicity; to make oneself or itself manifest. So
(to be) to the front = ‘to the fore’ (
rare).
| 1871 Archæol. Assoc. Jrnl. Sept. 323 Another saint came to the front. 1876 Trevelyan Macaulay II. ix. 132 When subjects came to the front on which his knowledge was great. 1878 Scribner's Mag. XVI. 184/2 At such a time his true boastful self would come to the front. 1885 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Chr. Kirkland III. vi. 231 Underneath in the hidden depths lurked other matters than those which came to the front. 1886 Daily News 6 Jan. 5/1 The year has gone, however, and the aged Emperor is still to the front. |
11. ellipt. (
quasi-adj. or adv.)
a. spec. = front-pipe (see 14).
| 1667 Primatt City & C. Build. 36 Suppose that same be 25 foot Front, and forty foot deep, it may be let for to be built, for forty shillings the foot Front. c 1680 Hickeringill Wks. (1716) II. 512 The Enemy..had beset them Front and Rear. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 8 The biggest of them [buildings] had not four yards Front. 1845 Florist's Jrnl. 25 A little shed, open back and front. 1879 Organ Voicing 12 Zinc is frequently used for basses and ‘fronts’. 1892 I. Zangwill Bow Myst. 127 It's the key of my first-floor front. |
b. front of: in front of.
U.S.| 1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase xv. 110 Front of the fire-place was the parlour. 1871 Mrs. Stowe Sam Lawson 45 Wall, she was a standin' front o' this. 1896 S. O. Jewett Country of Pointed Firs 107 He used to..throw a little bundle 'way up the green slope front o' the house. |
c. As a command: to the front, forward.
| 1907 N.Y. Even. Post (semi-weekly ed.) 13 May 6 The register clerk [at a Shanghai hotel] assigns you to a room, and instead of ‘Front!’ he shouts ‘Boy!’ |
† 12. [from the
vb.] Encounter, onset;
= affront n. 3.
Obs.| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccccxxxii. 760 The men of armes..at the first front ouerthrue many. |
III. attrib. and
Comb. 13. attrib., passing into adj. a. = Of or pertaining to the front, situated in front. (The comb. of
adj. +
n. is itself often used
attrib.) Freq. in various more or less technical uses.
| 1600 Holland Livy xxxvii. 957 They had raunged their ships broad in a front-ranke. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 145 ¶ 2 She in a Front Box, he in the Pit next the Stage. 1710 Brit. Apollo III. No. 106. 4/1 The Front side of a good House, is to be Lett. 1718 Freethinker No. 57 ¶3, I shall be next Saturday at the Play, in a Front Row. 1770 G. White Selborne let. xxviii. 80 The horn of a male moose, which had no front-antlers. 1832 Prop. Regul. Instr. Cavalry ii. 33 The leading front⁓rank man advances two horses' lengths. 1838 Lytton Alice 64 The front entrance is kept locked up. 1843 Sir C. Scudamore Med. Visit Gräfenberg 2 The small-pox, and the loss of some front teeth from an accident, impair his good looks. 1851 Offic. Catal. Gt. Exhib. I. 467 A front and side elevation of the Elizabethan pianoforte. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. x. 275 A straight pinnacle of ice, the front edge of which was perfectly vertical. 1883 Expositor VI. 434 He [St. Peter] was naturally quick, mobile, a front⁓man. 1884 Milit. Engin. I. ii. 43 The front ditch party are extended at 5 feet apart. 1897 Encycl. Sport I. 267/2 It ruins the tyres, and, if applied to the front wheel, puts a great strain on the front forks. Ibid. 493/1 It often happens in heavy shooting that the recoil of the second barrel causes the front trigger to cut the first joint of the fore-finger. 1902 Captain VII. 474 Crabb front rim brake. 1907 Daily Chron. 11 Nov. 7/4 The front axle being..used for both steering and driving alike. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 18 Jan. 7/2 Front-pressure over the area of a railway carriage must be from 25lb. to 35lb. per sq. foot before the stability of the train is imperilled. 1908 Daily Chron. 3 July 6/4 This front⁓cover picture. 1925 Morris Man. 68 When the front axle is off the ground, the pedal should be depressed. 1967 Gloss. Mining Terms (B.S.I.) xi. 8 Front abutment pressure. |
b. Phonetics. Applied to sounds in the formation of which the fore-part of the tongue touches or is raised towards the hard palate.
| 1867 A. M. Bell Vis. Speech 52 Front. The Front of the Tongue contracting the oral passage between it and the roof of the mouth. Ibid., Front-Mixed. The Front and the Point of the Tongue both raised. Ibid. 58 The ‘Front-divided’ Consonant has its side apertures within the palatal arch. 1888 H. Sweet Hist. Eng. Sounds 2 Front vowels are rounded by the lips only. 1918, 1962 [see clear a. 13 b]. 1933, 1965 [see central a. 1 d]. |
14. In special comb. and phrases:
front-action a. (see
quots.);
front bench, the foremost bench on either side of the Houses of Lords and Commons, occupied by ministers and ex-ministers respectively;
front-bencher, an occupant of a front bench, a leading member of the Government or Opposition;
front brake = front-wheel brake;
front burner: a boiling ring or plate at the front of a cooking stove;
freq. used
fig. in
colloq. phr. on the front burner (
orig. U.S.): of an issue, etc., in the state of being urgently considered; in the forefront of attention; of a plan, that receives priority;
cf. to cook on the front burner s.v. cook v.
1 1 b;
opp. to
back burner s.v. back- B;
front cloth Theatr., a painted cloth before which a scene is played while the stage is set for another scene behind it;
front door, the principal entrance-door of a house;
front driver (see
driver 6 b);
front-fastening a., that fastens in front;
front flight = first flight (see
flight n.1 8 d); also
attrib.;
front foot, a linear foot along the front of a plot of ground (
cf. foot front in 11);
front-handed a., done with a forward movement of the hand;
front line = front n. 5; also
spec. the musicians in a jazz band other than the rhythm section;
freq. attrib., of, pertaining to, or situated on the front-line or at the front; also
transf. and
fig.;
front-line state, (
usu. in
pl.) a state bordering on a country to which it is actively hostile;
spec. a Black state lying on the border of the Republic of South Africa;
front-loader, a machine,
esp. a washing-machine, designed to be loaded from the front, as distinct from one loaded from the top, etc.; also
front-loading ppl. a.; (as a back-formation)
front-load v. trans., (
a)
U.S., to concentrate a load at the front of (a vehicle); (in
quots. fig.); (
b) to load (a washing-machine, etc.) from the front; also
transf.;
front man spec. (
orig. U.S.), (
a) see sense 7 g; (
b) the leader of a band; (
c) one who represents an organization, etc., publicly;
spec. a television presenter;
front matter Printing (
orig. U.S.), all matter (title-page, preface, table of contents, etc.) in a book that precedes the text; the prelims;
front money orig. U.S., money paid in advance or at the beginning of a business transaction,
esp. to secure additional finance or co-operation;
cf. upfront adv. and a.;
front name U.S. (
jocular or
vulgar), a Christian name;
front office orig. U.S., a main or head office;
spec. police headquarters;
front page, the front outside page of a newspaper; often
attrib. to indicate an important or striking piece of news; so
front-page v.
trans. (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.), to feature on the front page;
front-pager, one who is worthy of being featured on the front page; a celebrity;
front-piece Theatr., a small play acted in front of the curtain;
front-pipe, each of the row of pipes which form the front of an organ, often gilded or otherwise decorated;
front rank, the first or foremost rank; also
attrib.;
front-ranker, a person (ship, etc.) of the highest class or of leading position;
front room, a room situated at the front of a house,
esp. a sitting-room;
spec. one kept as the best room in the house;
front-runner (
orig. U.S.), ‘(i) a contestant who runs best when in the lead; also, one who can set his own fast pace; (ii) the leading contestant in a competition’ (Webster 1961); so
front-running a.; (as a back-formation)
front-run v. intr.;
front-stall, an appendage to the bridle covering the horse's forehead;
† front-tickled a. (?
nonce-wd.), ? flattered;
front trench Mil., the trench nearest the enemy;
front-ways,
-wise advs., in a position or direction facing to the front;
front wheel, the foremost or either of the foremost wheels upon which a vehicle runs; also
attrib., as
front-wheel brake,
front wheel drive.
| 1881 W. W. Greener Gun 209 Back-action locks..tend to weaken the stock at the grip more than *front-action locks. 1907 Ibid. (ed. 8) 144 If the mainspring [of the lock]..is placed before the tumbler, it is ‘front action’ or ‘bar’. |
| 1891 Daily News 28 July 3/4 To have seen the motion carried on the strength of the two *Front Bench speeches. |
| 1907 Westm. Gaz. 31 Aug. 1/3 Each Unionist *Front-Bencher will have to do a double or treble turn. 1919 G. B. Shaw Heartbreak House p. ix, Where were our front benchers to nest if not here? 1968 Listener 30 May 694/3 Would you say that to be in opposition as a backbencher, or indeed even as a frontbencher, is virtually a role of impotence? |
| 1925 Morris Man. 68 From the points near the ends of the front number plate to the *front brake assemblies. 1959 Motor Man. (ed. 36) v. 137 (caption) Details of a Lockheed hydraulic two-leading-shoe front brake. |
| 1945, etc. *Front burner [see cook v.1 1 b]. 1970 Times 26 Sept. 7/2 The whole issue is now on the front burner with the flame turned up high. 1978 Guardian Weekly 4 June 16/4 Meany's agreement..that inflation has indeed superseded employment as the key problem..was remarkable for the most influential man on the labor scene, who for obvious reasons normally keeps the jobs picture on the front burner. |
| 1884 J. Hatton Irving's Impressions of America II. xi. 268 Every scene is a set, except two, and they are *front cloths. 1896 G. B. Shaw Our Theatres in Nineties (1932) II. 32 Long enough to allow the carpenters time to set the most elaborate water-scene behind the front cloth. 1958 B. Nichols Sweet & Twenties 141 Those most precious of all items to the revue writer, the ‘front-cloth numbers’, which can be played without props or scenery. |
| 1812 Examiner 31 Aug. 552/1 At the *front door. 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1883) 110 The front-door is on the street. |
| 1871 Figure Training 88 A *front-fastening corset. |
| 1899 Westm. Gaz. 1 Dec. 4/2 The field gradually tailed off and only the *front-flight men were able to keep on terms. 1902 Daily Chron. 5 Dec. 3/4 A department of the chase upon which front-flight men of the shires may be inclined to look down. |
| 1812 Deb. Congress U.S. 4 May (1853) 2288 [The city of Washington] shall have power to cause [street improvements] to be done at any expense not exceeding two dollars and fifty cents per *front foot. 1865 Harper's Mag. Aug. 319/1 Men bought town lots for $400 a front foot. 1925 B. Snyder Real Estate Handbk. 341 The land value map is designed to show the value of the land per front foot. Ibid., These front-foot values are called unit values. |
| 1843 P. Parley's Ann. IV. 74 He..made a quick *front-handed plunge in the direction from which the attack came. |
| 1899 R. Whiteing No. 5 John St. xiv. 148 Tuesday, put you in the *front line gents, and do you well..our luncheon tent's goin' to beat creation. 1915 ‘I. Hay’ First Hundred Thousand xviii. 248 That sudden disturbance in the front-line trench. Ibid. 251 Our front-line parapet. 1917 F. M. Ford Let. 1 Jan. (1965) 81, I hope to get to Mesopotamia as I am not fit for the front line. 1920 G. K. Rose 2/4th Oxf. & Bucks Lt. Infty. 36 My company supplied parties to carry wire and stakes up to the front line. 1927 W. Deeping Kitty xxi. 268 You've got a front line face. It's the March wind. 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 12 Feb. 116/4 From a vast mass of published diaries..by officers and men whose duties brought them constantly into the front line, Professor Cru, himself a front-line soldier, has studied the fundamental nature of war. 1936 Economist 8 Feb. 291/1 The Government's declared programme of enlarging the Air Force to a strength of 2,100 ‘front line machines’. 1955 Jazzbook 1955 18 A coloured front line..and a mixed white and coloured rhythm section. 1959 J. S. Wilson Collector's Jazz: Modern 49 Brown makes some adept front-line uses of his bass on Bass Hit, Verve 8022. 1962 A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio xiii. 225 This front-line audience can be of immense value to him in cross-checking his calculation or intuition. 1965 G. Melly Owning-Up vi. 72 The front line were blowing through their mouth pieces to warm them up sufficiently to play in tune. 1975 Economist 15 Feb. 72/3 The $1 billion military aid to Egypt and other front-line states given by Arab Opec members in 1973 and 1974. 1976 Guardian Weekly 19 Sept. 6/2 In Tanzania, Mozambique, and Botswana, the so-called ‘front-line states’, there is a mood of caution and pessimism. 1985 Times 21 Mar. 42/3 (Advt.), These opportunities hold..the immediate satisfaction of knowing that you will be making a tangible contribution to front-line marketing. |
| 1977 New Yorker 26 Sept. 85/1, I decided to *frontload the court system instead of backloading it as before, by settling minor cases at the time of arraignment, the first step in the court process. 1984 Listener 15 Mar. 5/1 He was planning to ‘front-load’ his campaign with successes in Iowa, New Hampshire and on ‘Super Tuesday’. 1984 Which? Aug. 384/2 For front-loading automatics, eczema sufferers may find ordinary automatic washing powders less of a problem than biological ones. |
| 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 12 Jan. 84 (Advt.), Independent operation of *front-loaders, dozers, etc. 1970 Guardian 17 Nov. 9/2 The best laundromat machines..are the front-loaders. |
| 1960 Farmer & Stockbreeder 8 Mar. 25/1 Taper ditching bucket and..hydraulic *front-loading shovel. |
| 1937 Amer. Speech XII. 46/1 *Front man, the leader of the band. 1946 R. Blesh Shining Trumpets (1949) xii. 279 To hire New Orleans players and then leave them free to play jazz, never occurred to the natty swing ‘front men’. 1959 ‘F. Newton’ Jazz Scene xi. 186 A good and permanent band is normally run by a martinet, or a ‘natural’ front man with an eye to the public. 1977 TV Times (Brisbane) 3 Sept. 18/2 Its producers faced another crisis. They met this..by casting about for another compere... They imported another frontman, David Frost, albeit briefly. 1985 Washington Post 25 Oct. c3/1, I hate to sound like a front man for the Network of Bill Cosby. |
| 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., *Front matter. 1920 Publishers' Weekly 4 Oct. 1660/2 We have cast-off your manuscript and estimate it will make 8 pages of front-matter and 248 pages of text. 1966 H. Williamson Methods Bk. Design (ed. 2) xii. 176 American designers sometimes use the terms ‘front matter’ and ‘end matter’. |
| 1931 W. L. Stoddard Financial Racketeering i. 4 *Front Money, money advanced to a salesman before commissions are earned. Money paid by companies for the purpose of securing finances, such money being paid to so-called ‘financial engineers’ on their promise to secure finances, which promises are seldom carried out. 1964 Times Rev. Industry & Technol. Feb. 11/1 His [sc. a film distributor's] guarantee is the necessary security on which the producer can borrow money from a bank. The amount borrowed constitutes what is known as front money and has absolute priority of repayment. 1977 H. Fast Immigrants v. 307 It's an investment. We call it front money, seed money. When the studio picks up, the money is repaid. |
| 1877 Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 4), *Front name, Christian name. ‘The familiar manner in which the telegraph handles my front name’, i.e. in calling him Ben. 1895 Pall Mall Mag. Mar. 511 ‘What's your front name?’ asked Roy boldly. |
| 1900 ‘J. Flynt’ Notes Itinerant Policeman 73 The capture dwindles down to a request on the part of the chief or his officer that the man shall go to the ‘*front office’. 1935 Wodehouse Blandings Castle xii. 302 The Front Office has just sent out a communication to all writers. 1966 Punch 1 June 818/1 This is the sort of thing that can happen when the ‘front office’ is dubious about a film's popular appeal. |
| 1902 Out West Jan. 39 Bearing on its *front page a picture of the murderer, and the ‘story’. 1917 Writer's Bulletin Mar. 56/2 He pounds the typewriter keys And in the distance clearly sees A front page story and a raise. 1917 Wodehouse Uneasy Money xii. 134 ‘Why, we may all be murdered in our beds!’ he cried. ‘Front page stuff!’ said Roscoe Sherriff, with gleaming eyes. 1929 Times 4 Feb. 13/5 The recent serious illness of the King has been ‘front page news’ from the beginning. 1929 M. Lief Hangover 54 Most of these society dames front-paged their fed-uppance with tea-fights and garden soirées. 1957 N.Z. News 17 Dec. 2/1 The New York Times front-paged Labour's victory. 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 4 July 377/3 It is most gratifying to see a front-page article..devoted to an intelligent and knowledgeable discussion of contemporary Russian poets. 1970 Daily Tel. 1 Jan. 5/8 Mr Barber is too good a journalist not to give the whole story breathless front-page excitement. |
| 1899 Daily News 28 Feb. 4/7 A dazzling array of eminent ‘*front-pagers’. 1934 A. Huxley Beyond Mexique Bay 3 The gay and charming front-pagers who go on winter cruises are, in the main, elderly people. |
| a 1889 Evening News (Barrère & Leland), At the Gaiety..a farce, ‘Lot 49’, by Mr. Fisher, as a *front piece to ‘Frankenstein’. 1907 Daily Chron. 9 Nov. 4/4 Thirty-four full-length plays and seven front-pieces. |
| 1855 E. J. Hopkins Organ 73 Tin does not soon become tarnished; hence its peculiar appropriateness for ungilded ‘*front pipes’. 1905 T. Elliston Organs & Tuning 393 The front pipes to be of stout V.M. zinc silvered with aluminium leaf. 1954 Grove's Dict. Mus. (ed. 5) VI. 290/2 The front pipes were made of tin, those inside of lead. |
| 1872 G. Meredith Let. 15 Nov. (1970) I. 472 The suspicion that Burton did not do what he said is unworthy, considering the things he has undoubtedly accomplished, and which place him in the *front rank of adventurous travellers. 1897 Sears, Roebuck Catal. 579 This rifle..stands in the ‘front rank’ with the very best target rifles of this and other countries. 1899 Westm. Gaz. 10 Mar. 4/3 Mr. Fox, another front-rank costumier. 1935 Discovery Nov. 321 British manufacturers are in the front rank in this branch of scientific industry. |
| 1905 Westm. Gaz. 25 Mar. 15/1 The eagerness which was displayed by some ‘*front-rankers’ to get a ‘line’ of the Ceylon Pearl Syndicate's underwriting. 1914 in E. C. Barnes Alfred Yarrow (1923) xxvii. 260 The Firedrake and Lurcher were looked upon as two front-rankers. 1928 Manch. Guardian Weekly 7 Dec. Suppl. p. vi/1 It is a long time since a year's verse list was led by so many front rankers. 1963 Times 9 Feb. 10/5 London's light operatic conductors, at a time when Ivan Caryll, Herman Finck, Jimmy Glover, and Alfred Dove were front-rankers. |
| 1679 Moxon Mech. Exerc. I. vii. 133 If your Shop stand in an eminent Street, the *Front Rooms are commonly more Airy than the Back Rooms. 1827 A. Royall Tennessean ii. 12 What were you doing in this front room? I was sweeping it. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 690 He..reascended the stairs, reapproached the door of the front room, hallfloor, and reentered. 1976 T. Sharpe Wilt ii. 11 She got the washing-up done and the front room vacuumed. 1986 N.Y. Times 23 Feb. i. 18/4 Mr. Tutuola sits in the front room of his apartment, tugging constantly on his metal-stemmed pipe. |
| 1940 Time 4 Nov. 71 He has won most of his subsequent newspaper clippings by *front-running for the U.S.'s No. 1 anti-Wall Street financier. 1958 Times 24 Oct. 17/6 Eldon tried to front-run without the necessary strength and experience. |
| 1914 Automobile 27 Aug. 390/2 Always a *front-runner, he soon opened a gap on the field which looked to be a safe one. 1952 Birmingham (Ala.) News 5 May 12/1 Not a front runner, he is a dark horse who might come in first should Taft and Eisenhower cancel each other out. 1960 Times 29 June 17/7 There can be no doubt that the emergence of a few brave front-runners has lifted the middle distance running out of the doldrums. 1970 W. Smith Gold Mine vii. 18 He had joined C.R.C. a mere twelve years previously..and now he was the front runner. |
| 1950 N.Y. Times 11 June 53/2 Wade beat Pearman by nine yards in the 880 with a *front-running race. 1951 Life 1 Oct. 32/1 Taft is the strongest single Republican and the front-running candidate for the '52 nomination. |
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 631 The KK. of the East had their horses set out therewith [cochlides]..in their *frontstals. 1653 Urquhart Rabelais ii. xii. 83 A barbed horse furnished with a frontstal. 1825 Scott Talism. i, The front-stall of the bridle was a steel plate, with apertures for the eyes and nostrils. |
| 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, ciii, But faire pretence leads on; and the Dull Heard *Front-tickled, yeild themselves into his hand. |
| 1916 ‘Boyd Cable’ Action Front 143 The stretcher-bearers carried their burden into the *front trench. |
| 1863 R. H. Gronow Remin. II. 46 The cocked hat he always wore, placed *frontways on his head, like that of the Emperor Napoleon. |
| 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. V. iii. ii. (Venom. Serpents), It has..a mark of dark brown on the forehead, which, when viewed *frontwise, looks like a pair of spectacles. 1885 Middleton in Encycl. Brit. XIX. 612/1 Though the faces are nearly always represented in profile, the eyes are shown frontwise. |
| 1897 *Front wheel [see sense 13 above]. 1902 A. C. Harmsworth et al. Motors x. 218 The automobilist should frequently jack up the front of his car so that the front wheels are free of the ground. |
| 1878 Design & Work IV. 218/1, 52 in. Wolverhampton..with lamp and pouch, *front wheel brake. 1900 Captain III. 463/2 Gamage's Holborn front wheel rim brake. 1904 Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 147/2 The front wheel brake usually carries two blocks on a horseshoe-shaped clip. |
| 1908 Westm. Gaz. 3 Nov. 4/1 The Allen-Liversidge system of *front-wheel braking. |
| 1928 Daily Mail 13 Aug. 12/6 Will the new principle of *front wheel drive prove a success? 1968 N. Fleming Counter Paradise iii. 42 ‘Great heap,’ Jake grinned... ‘Yes..and it's got front-wheel drive.’ 1971 Guardian 18 Feb. 2/6 The Renault 17..is a front-wheel drive model. |
▸
front bottom n. Brit. colloq. (
euphem.,
esp. in speech to or by children) the female external genitals, the vulva;
cf. front bum n. at Additions.
| 1991More Things to do with Flies in talk.politics.mideast (Usenet newsgroup) 25 Jan. Then I could put my baby-making-part into your front-bottom. 2000 R. Topping Kevin & Perry go Large i. 2 Tis such a waste of my lovely woman's body. I've got years of shagging left in me. Why chop off my head when thou could lift up my dress and look at my front bottom? |
▸
front bum n. colloq. (
euphem.)
= front bottom n. at Additions.
| 1985 B. McConville & J. Shearlaw Slanguage of Sex 111/1 *Front bum, the vagina. Male Irish usage. Intended as jokey and innocuous, but somewhat disturbing in its denial of the nature—and even the existence—of the female part. 1999 Pi Mag. (Univ. Coll. London Union) Feb. 17/2 It's a great shame Chicks were still having their nappies changed when L7 were causing riots flashing their—erm–‘front bums’ on The Word. |
▸
front door n. colloq. (
euphem.), the female external genitals, the vulva;
cf. backdoor n. Additions
| [1613 J. Marston Insatiate Countesse ii. i, Thais. But you meane they shall come in at the backe-dores. Abig. Who, our Husbands? nay, and they come not in at the fore-dores, there will be no pleasure in't.] 1893 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang III. 77/1 Front-attic (or *-door..)..the female pudendum... To have (or do) a bit of front-door work, to copulate. 1990 E. W. Ruzuka W. Coast Turnaround 98 She wanted him inside the front door one more time. |
▪ II. front, v.1 (
frʌnt)
[ad. OF. front-er in same sense, f. front front n.; it may however in some uses be an independent formation on the Eng. n.] 1. a. intr. To have the front in a specified direction; to face, look. Const.
on,
to,
towards,
upon.
| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. li. 73 The french king..purueyed suffyciently for all the forteresses frontyng on Flanders. 1583 Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 88 Tarent..to which heunlye Lacinia fronteth. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 297 A countrey..fronts upon another Nation. 1703 Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 143 Having a few small Rooms fronting outward. 1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. II. ii. 48 This room was erected..fronting westward to the privy-garden. 1864 Tennyson En. Ard., Philip's dwelling fronted on the street. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman III. iii. 134 The rooms fronted to Athol Street. |
† b. trans. To set the front of (a building) in a specified direction.
Obs.| 1665 J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 105 Temples..should be so fronted, as that Travellers passing by might behold them. a 1817 T. Dwight Trav. New Eng. (1821) II. 97 Mr. G. has erected a large elegant mansion, fronted towards the river. |
2. trans. a. To have the front towards; to ‘face’, stand opposite to.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 122 Like a gate of steele, Fronting the Sunne. 1696 tr. Du Mont's Voy. Levant 2 All the Houses..which fronted the Bishop's Palace. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones v. v, This enclosed place exactly fronted the foot of the bed. 1823 F. Clissold Ascent Mt. Blanc 11 Fronting us, rose the summit of Mont Blanc. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 109 The perspective picture which fronts the title-page represents a cotton factory. |
b. Of a building: To have its front on the side of (a street, etc.).
| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 38 Opposite to this, one [Gate] more stately fronts the High-street. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1883) I. 323 This alcove fronts the longest gravel-walk in the garden. 1833 Act 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 46 §90 The proprietor or proprietors of any buildings fronting any of the streets. 1847 A. M. Gilliam Trav. Mexico 166 The church..was to have fronted the Plaza. |
3. a. To stand face to face with, meet face to face, look straight at, face, confront;
esp. to face in defiance or hostility, present a bold front to, oppose.
lit. and
fig.| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 55 Of Greeks thee first man with a gallant coompanye garded Fronted vs. 1596 Spenser State Irel. (Globe) 660/1 He dare now to fronte princes. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. i. iii. 59 Front her, boord her, woe her, assayle her. c 1618 Fletcher Q. Corinth iv. iii, Amazed..at your..impudence, That dare thus front us. 1697 Dryden Disc. Epic Poetry D 4, When æneas and Turnus stood fronting each other before the altar. 1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome, Marcus iv. 65 Some fell upon the Rear, some fronted them directly. 1837 Hawthorne Amer. Note-bks. (1883) 104 Here you fronted the ocean, looking at a sail. 1839 Carlyle Chartism (1842) 98 Evil, once manfully fronted, ceases to be evil. 1852 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xvii. 222 Soldiers can be hired..to front death in its worst form. 1864 Kirk Chas. Bold I. i. 22 The brazen pride with which he fronted accusation and reproach. |
b. said of things.
| 1602 W. Watson Decacordon 265 Would God such things..never had fronted our native shores! 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 61 Those Warres Which fronted mine owne peace. 1637 Heywood Royall King ii. iv. Wks. 1874 VI. 26, I am arm'd with innocence, And that dares front all danger. 1873 Black Pr. Thule (1874) 6 At length, the boat..fronted the broad waters of the Atlantic. |
4. To set face to face
with, confront
with.
| 1617 Collins Def. Bp. Ely ii. ix. 351 The Cardinall had fronted him with one such false place out of Chrysostome. 1625 Bacon Ess., Seditions (Arb.) 411 Which kinde of Persons, are..to be fronted, with some other, of the same Party, that may oppose them. 1853 Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xxi. 275 Fronting his patron and his prince with the stern unpalatable truth of God. |
5. To adorn in front; to furnish with a front. (So in comb.
new-front.) Also, to face (with some specified material);
= face v. 13.
| 1635 Davenant Prince d'Amour Wks. (1673) 396 The Scæne was discovered with a Village consisting of Ale⁓houses and Tobacco shops, each fronted with a red Lettice. 1742 W. Cole in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 228 They have..new Fronted the east front. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) IV. 231 He new fronted his house in Piccadilly. 1772 J. G. W. De Brahm Hist. Georgia (1849) 45 The Savannah Bay is nearly fronted with contiguous Wharfs. 1782 Cowper Let. Wks. 1837 XV. 116 My green-house..is fronted with myrtles, and lined with mats. a 1817 T. Dwight Trav. New Eng. (1821) II. 31 The Presbyterian church..is fronted with two towers. 1824 Ann. Reg. 87 The whole building was proposed to be fronted with stone. |
† 6. a. To introduce (a tale, etc.)
with (the mention of or reference to something); to preface.
Obs.| 1592 Greene Art Conny Catch. iii. 9 The wily Treacher..coyned such a smooth tale vnto them both, fronting it with the Gammon of Bacon and the Cheese sent from their maides Father. 1599 Broughton's Let. v. 15 You..haue fronted your Libell with this inscription. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 109 Hippocrates did wel to front his Axiomaticall Experiments..with the grand Miscariages in the practice of Physitians. a 1732 T. Boston Crook in Lot (1805) 73 Solomon..fronts his writings, in the beginning of the Proverbs, with most express gospel. |
b. To place in front as a frontispiece.
Obs.—1| 1609 Bp. W. Barlow Answ. Nameless Cath. 305 Pindarus would haue in the beginning of a Treatise..some glorious personage fronted. |
7. a. To be or stand in front of, to serve as a front to.
| 1591 Spenser Vis. Bellay ii, I saw a stately frame..With hundreth pillours fronting faire the same. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 219 Yonder wals that pertly front your Towne..Must kisse their owne feet. 1791 Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest v, She came to the lawn which fronted the fabric. 1845 Darwin Voy. Nat. xiv. (1879) 296 The coast..is fronted by many breakers. a 1847 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor II. x. 3 A..mansion..fronted by a garden abounding with fruits and flowers. 1884 Law Times Rep. LI. 228/1 The damage done to the sea wall fronting Curry Marsh Farm. |
b. To serve as a ‘front’ (see
front n. 7 g).
slang (
orig. U.S.).
| 1932 J. Sayre Rackety Rax vii. 55 You'll have to front for us, knowin' the collegiate racket and all. 1939 R. Chandler Big Sleep xxvi. 232 Why should I front for that twist? 1939 Nation 5 Aug. 134/2 America, accusing us of ‘fronting’ for the Semites and Communists. 1951 Manch. Guardian Weekly 1 Mar. 3 Mr. Churchill agreed to ‘front’ for the quick pride of the Royal Navy. 1959 M. Ainsworth Murder is Catching vii. 90 Was he merely doing his job..? Or was he fronting for Pender? 1971 N. Freeling Over High Side i. 41 To..help him out occasionally I have fronted for him—a telephone call. And I'm bound to say he helped me. |
c. To lead (a band). Also
intr. orig. U.S.| 1936 Amer. Mercury May p. x/2 Baton weaver, the joe personality who fronts the band. 1937 Amer. Speech XII. 46/2 Ted is fronting for Smith's old band. 1946 P. Fischer in Jazzways 48/2 Hampton was with the Les Hite Orchestra, occasionally ‘fronted’ by Louis Armstrong. 1949 L. Feather Inside Be-Bop iii. 26 Coleman Hawkins, who was fronting Clarke's band, copyrighted the tune. 1958 P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz x. 128 The remnants of Isham Jones's Orchestra were taken over..by Woody Herman, a clarinet player with a taste for jazz and a talent for fronting a band. |
8. Chiefly
Mil. † a. intr. To march in the front or first rank.
Obs.—1| 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. ii. 42, I..front but in that File Where others tell steps with me. |
b. To turn the front or face in a specified direction;
= face v. 9 b. Also, as word of command.
| 1635 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Banish'd Virg. 122 Upon this the third fronting to their flanckward spurr'd towards him. 1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 14 He fronts to the left. 1847 Infantry Man. (1854) 5 Upon the word Front, if he has faced to the right, he fronts to the left. |
c. To form a front or extended line.
| 1802 C. James Milit. Dict. s.v., When the battalion is marching by files..the word front is always practised to restore it to its natural situation in line. 1807 Pike Sources Mississ. iii. (1810) 258 The Spanish troops..were remarkably polite, always fronting and saluting when I passed. 1883 Army Corps Orders in Standard 22 Mar. 3/2 It will halt, front, and march past. |
d. to front about: to turn round so as to face in another direction.
| 1886 Stevenson Dr. Jekyll 23 Mr. H...fronted about with an air of defiance. |
e. trans. (causatively, from
front! as a word of command): To cause to form a front or line.
| 1796 Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 74 He then Halts, fronts! it, and dresses and closes it to its pivot marker on the line. 1832 Prop. Regul. Instr. Cavalry ii. 14 In the movement of Threes to a flank, the squadron should occupy but little more ground than when fronted. 1859 F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 25 Each company in succession will be halted, and fronted. |
† 9. (See
quot.)
Obs.| 1530 Palsgr. 559/1, I fronte up, as a woman dothe the heare of her heed with a fyllet. Je effronte. I wene you be bydden to some bridale to daye, you be so well fronted up. |
10. Sc. and
dial. (See
quots.)
| 1808–18 Jamieson, To front, applied to meat, when it swells in boiling. 1887 S. Cheshire Gloss., Front, of tender meat which swells in cooking; of meal which swells under boiling water; of the full feeling supervening after a hearty meal, etc. |
11. Phonetics. To pronounce with the tongue in a front position,
i.e. touching or raised towards the hard palate; to palatalize. Also
intr.| 1888 H. Sweet Hist. Eng. Sounds 36 The fronting is carried out most fully with the point nasals and stops. Ibid., These fronted consonants again in their turn influence a preceding sound. Ibid. 37 [This sound] fronts the preceding ʃ. 1907 H. C. Wyld Hist. Study Mother Tongue viii. 160 A natural inference is that..e being a front vowel, fronted the preceding consonant. 1929 Encycl. Brit. I. 1/2 These [changes] are due to fronting..or to rounding. 1939 Trans. Philol. Soc. 1939 89 In OE, Germ a appears as æ. Some dialects have e, but..the fronting first produced æ. 1964 Language XL. 31 Perhaps we can see a reason why /a/ should front. |
Add:
[7.] d. To act as the presenter or host of (a television programme or other broadcast);
= compère v.
| 1978 Daily Tel. 3 July 2/2 Bruce Forsyth has signed a contract with London Weekend Television to front a series of 12 weekly light entertainment shows. 1982 M. Kington Miles & Miles 132 I'm doing a..13-part TV series... I think I'll get Frank Muir to front it. 1984 National Times (Austral.) 2 Nov. 29/2 He will be fronting the show and performing most of the main roles. 1989 N.Y. Times 1 Jan. ii. 29/4 A vehicle designed for the comedienne Joan Rivers, the program was fronted by a bewildering succession of guest hosts after Ms. Rivers was dropped. |
▪ III. † front, v.2 Obs. In 4–5
frunt,
pa. tense
frunt.
[ad. OF. fronter to ill-treat.] 1. trans. To strike, kick, drive
back.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. C. 187 Þe freke hym frunt with his fot. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6923 He..frunt hym in þe fase a full fel wond. Ibid. 8327 Polidamas..ffaght with hom felly, frunt hom abacke. |
2. intr. a. To rush, make a rush.
b. To fall plump.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 6887 Þe freke, with a felle spere frunt vnto Ector. Ibid. 6890 He frunt of hys fol flat to þe ground. |