| 释义 |
▪ 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.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 169/2176 Bote fram þe riȝt half of is frount. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints, Machor 1547 Þe takine of þe cors to mak, one þar froynttis. 1390Gower Conf. I. 47 A sterre whit Amiddes in her front she [the hors] hadde. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 405 Þe calf is rede I undertake, With a white sterne in þe fronte. 1481Caxton Myrr. ii. v. 71 Peple ther..haue only but one eye, and that standeth right in the myddys of the fronte or forhede. 1585T. 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. 1602Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 56 See what a grace was seated on his Brow, Hyperions curles, the front of Ioue himselfe. 1671Milton Samson 496 The mark of fool set on his front! 1735Somerville Chase iii. 513 Soon he rears Erect his tow'ring Front. 1777Sheridan Sch. Scand. A Portrait 13 Ye matron censors..Whose peering eye and wrinkled front declare, etc. 1814Scott Ld. of Isles vi. xxxvii, And bore he..Such noble front, such waving hair? 1847Lytton Lucretia (1853) 227 Her nostrils dilated, and her front rose erect. 1884W. Allingham Blackberries (1890) 88 Blear eyes, huge ears, and front of ape.
b. in fig. phrases, after Shakespeare.
1604Shakes. 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. 1816Keatinge Trav. (1817) I. 15 This was the whole front of his offending. 1878Morley Condorcet 37 Placing social aims at the head and front of his life.
c. rarely used techn., e.g. in Entomology.
1826Kirby & 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.
1398Trevisa 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. c1450Mirour Saluacioun 791 Nor hire nekke nor hire front vsed sho to bere vppright. 1508Dunbar Flyting w. Kennedie 84 Fy! feyndly front, far fowlar than ane fen. a1605Polwart Flyting w. Montgomerie 784 Jock Blunt, thrawin frunt! 1605Shakes. Macb. iv. iii. 232 Front to Front, Bring thou this Fiend of Scotland and my selfe. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 82 Brazen Impudence..hath two fronts, its boasting one, and bold one: with the one they look back..the other looketh forward. 1697Creech Manilius i. ix, They stand not front to front, but each doth view The others Tayl, pursu'd as they pursue. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 292 Antelopes..guarding their Fronts, scampering with their Heads to the Earth, to avoid the..Enemy aloft. 1767Sir W. Jones 7 Fountains Poems (1777) 50 Till thrice the sun his rising front has shown. 1802Beddoes Hygëia ii. 39 Those..have the courage to treat it, front to front, in a manner corresponding to the enormity of the consequences [etc.]. 1855Tennyson 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; façade; spec. a bluff. Also fig. Cf. sense 7 g.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. viii. 47 (Camb. MS.) Whan she [fortune] descouereth hir frownt and sheweth hir maneres. c1477Caxton Jason 104 b, [Medea] commanded that her ladies..shold put on the fayr fronte in entencion to make feste solempne. 1637Heywood Royall King i. Wks. 1874 VI. 17 That face..beares the selfe-same front. 1711Steele Spect. No. 20 ⁋3 A Fellow that is capable of shewing an impudent Front before a whole Congregation. 1762Falconer Shipwr. ii. 347 Who, patient in adversity, still bear The firmest front. 1800–24Campbell Poems, Visiting Scene in Ayrshire iv, Through the perils of chance..May thy front be unalter'd. 1821Scott Kenilw. vi, The..unclouded front of an accomplished courtier. 1873–4Dixon 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. 1934J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra (1935) 27 There was dancing and a hat-check girl and waiters in uniform and all that front. 1949E. Coxhead Wind in West vii. 193 While he still put a good front on the affair, she said nothing. 1952A. Baron With Hope, Farewell 124 It was only a front. He was scared stiff. 1953R. 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.1855Prescott Philip II, I. ii. xiv. 309 The league, which had raised so bold a front against the government, had crumbled away. 1860Tyndall 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.
1653H. More Antid. Ath. iii. ix. (1712) 170, I..wonder how any man, except one of the most hardened front, can [etc.]. 1709Steele Tatler No. 168 ⁋3 Men of Front carry Things before 'em with little Opposition. 1717De Foe Mem. Ch. Scot. (1844) 5 With what Front the Absurdities charg'd on her could be broach'd in the World. 1849Macaulay 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.
c1350Will. Palerne 3584 In sexe semli batailes..al be fore in þe frond he ferde þan him-selue. c1400Destr. Troy 1278 Þan..ffrochit into þe frount & a fray made. 1470–85Malory Arthur ii. x. 87 But alweyes kyng Lot helde hym in the formest frunte. 1598Barret Theor. Warres Gloss. 250 Fronte, a French word, is the face or foreparte of a squadron or battell. 1607Shakes. Cor. i. vi. 8 Both our powers, with smiling Fronts encountring. 1625Markham 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. 1667Milton P.L. vi. 105 Front to Front Presented stood in terrible array. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 378 As Legions in the Field their Front display. 1700S. L. tr. Fryke's Voy. E. Ind. 61 Commanded Captain Jochem, who led the Blacks, to march in the Front. 1775R. King in Life & Corr. (1894) I. 9 They..began their march, with a very wide Front. 1838–43Arnold Hist. Rome III. xliii. 141 The..Gaulish horse charged the Romans front to front. 1859F. 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.
1375Barbour Bruce xvii. 569 The Ingliss men com on sadly..Richt in a frount vith a baner. c1400Destr. Troy 10869 And all fore to þe fight in a frunt hole. 1607Topsell 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. 1623Bingham Xenophon 78 If we aduance in a large Front..if in a narrow Front. 1667Milton P.L. i. 563 Advanc't in view they stand, a horrid Front Of dreadful length. 1710Lond. Gaz. No. 4744/2 Our ..Army..marched..to Attack the Enemy in full Front. 1838Thirlwall Greece III. 349 The Spartans..preserving an even and unbroken front. 1886Daily 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.
1665Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 440 Not onely the Front as heretofore, but the backside also..rendred unsafe. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. II. xli. 504 Belisarius protected his front with a deep trench. 1810Wellington in Gurw. Desp. VI. 367, I propose to move up the infantry of the army to the front again. 1844H. H. Wilson Brit. India III. 320 One division..was sent to take the stockades in rear, while another..threatened them from the front. 1879J. C. Fife-Cookson Armies of Balkans i. 6 To see him before his departure for the front next day. 1889R. Kipling Wee Willie Winkie 72 British Regiments were wanted—badly wanted—at the Front. 1944Hutchinson'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. 1967J. 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.1846Greener 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.
1832in Prop. Regul. Instr. Cavalry iii. 46. 1833 Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 14 The whole will face, as accurately as possible, to their former front. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. i. i. (1872) 9 The improvised Municipals make front to this also. 1879Lubbock Addr. Pol. & Educ. iv. 92 This change of front seems to be founded on the report of the Board of Education for Scotland. 1891Daily 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.
1851J. S. Macaulay Field Fortif. 23 The outline above traced is called a Front of Fortification. 1859F. 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.
1919Punch's Hist. Gt. War 19 The trials..on the home front. 1929Nation 4 Dec. 696/1 Gleb's victory on the economic front is somewhat spoiled by his partial defeat on the ‘domestic front’. 1934A. Huxley Beyond Mexique Bay 6 The amusement front had its duly appointed commissar. 1938Ann. 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’. 1941Punch 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. 1959Encounter July 79/2 Myths of Soviet home-front propaganda. 1969Times 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.
1926D. L. Sayers Clouds of Witness vii. 157 A woman..looking like a personification of the United Front of the ‘Internationale’. 1934Ann. Reg. 1933 ii. 171 A uniform National-Socialist organisation embracing all German workers was called into existence under the designation ‘The German Workers' Front’. 1936E. 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. 1940Amer. Speech XV. 453/2 He [sc. Dimitrov]..urged members of the Communist Party to organize ‘Popular Fronts’ in the democracies. 1968Listener 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.
1365Durham Halm. Rolls (Surtees) 41 Non fecit clausuram tenementi sui de le front. 1382Wyclif Ezek. xl. 9 He metide..the frount therof in two cubitis. c1440Promp. Parv. 181/1 Frownt, or frunt of a churche, or oþer howsys. 1624Wotton Archit. (1672) 16 And the contrary fault of low distended Fronts, is as unseemly. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 265 A Building, which is 25 Feet, both in the Front and Reer Front. 1760–72tr. Juan & Ulloa's Voy. (ed. 3) II. 32 The fronts being of stone. 1806Gazetteer Scotl. (ed. 2) 144 The Town-house, an elegant structure, with a handsome front. 1841W. 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. 1888Burgon Lives 12 Gd. Men II. xii. 355 The garden front was most inconveniently embowered..in forest trees. 1893W. 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.
c1400Destr. Troy 10814 In þe frunt of þat faire yle, Was a prouynse of prise. 1555Eden Decades 85 We found the fyrst front of this land to bee broader. 1577B. 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. 1605Shakes. Macb. v. viii. 47 Had he his hurts before? I, on the Front. 1705Addison 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. 1788Gibbon Decl. & F. I. (Milman) V. 2 The southern basis presents a front of a thousand miles to the Indian Ocean. 1823H. 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. 1851Carpenter Man. Phys. (ed. 2) 398 The sternum itself being so largely developed, as to cover almost the entire front of the body. 1893F. 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.
c1600Shakes. Sonn. cii, Philomel in summer's front doth sing. 1842Tennyson Gardener's Dau. 28 More black than ashbuds in the front of March. 1883Stevenson Silverado Sq. 237 A hawthorn in the front of June.
†c. = frontier n. 4. Obs.
1589Greene Sp. Masquerado Wks. (Grosart) V. 256 When the Sarasens..had inuaded Germanie, and the frontes of France. 1593Hollyband Fr. Dict. P 2 b, Les frontieres d'vn pais, the frontiers of a countrey: the front or marches.
d. Mining. = face 20 a.
1717tr. Frezier's Voy. S. Sea 183 A Mine, which is 40 Varas, or Spanish Yards in Front. 1867W. 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.
1766Laws of N. Carolina (1791) 234 The Water Fronts of the Lots herein before mentioned. 1769Bp. Wilton Inclos. Act 2 Occupiers of ancient messuages, cottages, houses or fronts. 1904Ward, 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. 1920Glasgow Herald 17 July 7 For them the ‘front’, palpitating with cheerful humanity, is Elysium. 1938G. 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.
1806G. 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. 1810Scott Fam. Lett. 30 Mar. (1894) I. 174 There was fine work in the front, as they call the audience part of the house. 1894Evening 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. 1930C. H. Ridge Stage Lighting iv. 62 Front-of-the-house lighting tends to flatness. 1935Ridge & Aldred Stage Lighting viii. 73/2 The following notes may serve to sum up the subject of Front-of-House Lighting. 1961Bowman & 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. 1985Financial 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.
1905McClure's Mag. XXIV. 346 For Brayton was the front, not the head of the System. 1926J. 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. 1934H. N. Rose Thesaurus of Slang 25/1 Representative Who Poses as the ‘Big Shot’ of a Gang (n. phr.): the front man. 1938H. Asbury Sucker's Progr. 345 Their agent and front man was the Chief of Police. 1940in Amer. Speech (1941) XVI. 146/2 Foreign ‘isms’..masquerading behind ‘front’ organizations. 1940Time 29 Jan. 23/3 Department of Justice investigators believe that Earl Browder is a mere front-man. 1949M. 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.’ 1951J. 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. 1960Spectator 16 Sept. 408 He becomes the nark and front-man for an unscrupulous white landlord in a slum-house area. 1965Ibid. 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.
1921Bjerknes & 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’. 1923N. 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. 1938Nature 29 Oct. 804/1 Any pressure system, such as a cyclone, an anticyclone, a trough or a front. 1956Weather May 147 The front is not a surface but a zone of rapid temperature transition between air masses. 1957Times 11 May 7/1 A depression near Ireland will be slow moving and associated weak fronts will move slowly N.E. to E. districts. 1970R. 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.
1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 435, I could not but in y⊇ very front and beginning of my letter, use this. 1594Blundevil 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. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 94 A Catalogue of above three hundred Advisers, and his name in the Front. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. vi. 17 Thy Name..Shall in the front of every Page be shown.
†b. = frontispiece n. 3 or 4. Obs.
1647Crashaw Poems 128 If with distinctive eye and mind you look Upon the front, you see more than one book. a1718Penn 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.
1847A. M. Gilliam Trav. Mexico 152 The body of the wagon is about equally balanced over the axletree, the front resting upon the tongue. 1851Offic. 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.
1533in Weaver Wells Wills (1890) 148 To the gyltyng of the ffrownt at the hye auter. 1539Peterboro' Inv. in N. & Q. 3rd Ser. IV. 459 In the Rood Loft..one front of painted cloth. 1552–3Inv. 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.
1687Congreve Old Bach. iv. iv, I undertook the modelling of one of their fronts, the more modern structure. 1837Thackeray Ravenswing i, Mamma means her front! 1865Trollope Belton Est. xvii, The graces of her own hair had given way to a front. 1886Pall 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.
1844Dickens Mart. Chuz. xvii, What a very few shirts there are, and what a many fronts. 1851Offic. Catal. Gt. Exhib. II. 579 Gentlemen's fronts and stocks.
e. The front part of a woman's garment.
1801Jane 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. 1889Daily 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. 1932E. 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’.
1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 144, I saw..a pragmatical Portugal..in the front of 40 men marching to the Governor's. 1712W. Rogers Voy. 174 We..fir'd..at the Men in Arms in the front of the Church. 1777Watson 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. 1816Keatinge Trav. (1817) I. 225 The standards were faced about, and formed in our fronts. 1847A. M. Gilliam Trav. Mexico 256, I was particular to make my servants keep in front of me. 1853Sir H. Douglas Milit. Bridges (ed. 3) 144 Forcing a passage across the river in his front. 1855Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 1 The proclamation was repeated..in front of the Royal Exchange.
fig.1609Tourneur Funeral Poeme on Sir F. Vere 172, I the front Of danger where he did his deedes advance. 1817Chalmers Astron. Disc. v. (1852) 124 Those holy..men..in the front of severest obloquy, are now labouring in remotest lands. 1848W. K. Kelly tr. L. Blanc's Hist. Ten Y. II. 345 In the very front of danger. 1892Spectator 12 Mar. 353/1 His majesty will speedily be in front of a new difficulty. 1896Westm. 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.
1613Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 380 With his whole forces, in front, [he] assailed. 1700T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusem. Ser. & Com. 21 By comes a Christning, with the Reader and the Midwife strutting in the Front. 1748F. Smith Voy. Disc. I. 133 The upper Story had the two Captains Cabins in Front. 1821G. W. Manby Voy. Greenland (1823) 134 Determined..to attack him [a bear] in front, I got upon the ice. 1847A. 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. 1879G. C. Harlan Eyesight ix. 129 The most injurious direction for light to come from is that directly in front. 1895Scot. 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).
1820Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. I. 235 Being removed to the front of a brisk fire, a strong ebullition commenced. 1887Bowen 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).
1871Archæol. Assoc. Jrnl. Sept. 323 Another saint came to the front. 1876Trevelyan Macaulay II. ix. 132 When subjects came to the front on which his knowledge was great. 1878Scribner's Mag. XVI. 184/2 At such a time his true boastful self would come to the front. 1885Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Chr. Kirkland III. vi. 231 Underneath in the hidden depths lurked other matters than those which came to the front. 1886Daily 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).
1667Primatt 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. c1680Hickeringill Wks. (1716) II. 512 The Enemy..had beset them Front and Rear. 1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 8 The biggest of them [buildings] had not four yards Front. 1845Florist's Jrnl. 25 A little shed, open back and front. 1879Organ Voicing 12 Zinc is frequently used for basses and ‘fronts’. 1892I. 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. 1871Mrs. Stowe Sam Lawson 45 Wall, she was a standin' front o' this. 1896S. 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.
1907N.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.
1523Ld. 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.
1600Holland Livy xxxvii. 957 They had raunged their ships broad in a front-ranke. 1709Steele Tatler No. 145 ⁋ 2 She in a Front Box, he in the Pit next the Stage. 1710Brit. Apollo III. No. 106. 4/1 The Front side of a good House, is to be Lett. 1718Freethinker No. 57 ⁋3, I shall be next Saturday at the Play, in a Front Row. 1770G. White Selborne let. xxviii. 80 The horn of a male moose, which had no front-antlers. 1832Prop. Regul. Instr. Cavalry ii. 33 The leading front⁓rank man advances two horses' lengths. 1838Lytton Alice 64 The front entrance is kept locked up. 1843Sir C. Scudamore Med. Visit Gräfenberg 2 The small-pox, and the loss of some front teeth from an accident, impair his good looks. 1851Offic. Catal. Gt. Exhib. I. 467 A front and side elevation of the Elizabethan pianoforte. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. x. 275 A straight pinnacle of ice, the front edge of which was perfectly vertical. 1883Expositor VI. 434 He [St. Peter] was naturally quick, mobile, a front⁓man. 1884Milit. Engin. I. ii. 43 The front ditch party are extended at 5 feet apart. 1897Encycl. 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. 1902Captain VII. 474 Crabb front rim brake. 1907Daily Chron. 11 Nov. 7/4 The front axle being..used for both steering and driving alike. 1908Westm. 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. 1908Daily Chron. 3 July 6/4 This front⁓cover picture. 1925Morris Man. 68 When the front axle is off the ground, the pedal should be depressed. 1967Gloss. 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.
1867A. 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. 1888H. 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.
1881W. W. Greener Gun 209 Back-action locks..tend to weaken the stock at the grip more than *front-action locks. 1907Ibid. (ed. 8) 144 If the mainspring [of the lock]..is placed before the tumbler, it is ‘front action’ or ‘bar’.
1891Daily News 28 July 3/4 To have seen the motion carried on the strength of the two *Front Bench speeches.
1907Westm. Gaz. 31 Aug. 1/3 Each Unionist *Front-Bencher will have to do a double or treble turn. 1919G. B. Shaw Heartbreak House p. ix, Where were our front benchers to nest if not here? 1968Listener 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?
1925Morris Man. 68 From the points near the ends of the front number plate to the *front brake assemblies. 1959Motor 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]. 1970Times 26 Sept. 7/2 The whole issue is now on the front burner with the flame turned up high. 1978Guardian 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.
1884J. Hatton Irving's Impressions of America II. xi. 268 Every scene is a set, except two, and they are *front cloths. 1896G. 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. 1958B. 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.
1812Examiner 31 Aug. 552/1 At the *front door. 1858O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf.-t. (1883) 110 The front-door is on the street.
1871Figure Training 88 A *front-fastening corset.
1899Westm. Gaz. 1 Dec. 4/2 The field gradually tailed off and only the *front-flight men were able to keep on terms. 1902Daily Chron. 5 Dec. 3/4 A department of the chase upon which front-flight men of the shires may be inclined to look down.
1812Deb. 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. 1865Harper's Mag. Aug. 319/1 Men bought town lots for $400 a front foot. 1925B. 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.
1843P. Parley's Ann. IV. 74 He..made a quick *front-handed plunge in the direction from which the attack came.
1899R. 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. 1917F. M. Ford Let. 1 Jan. (1965) 81, I hope to get to Mesopotamia as I am not fit for the front line. 1920G. K. Rose 2/4th Oxf. & Bucks Lt. Infty. 36 My company supplied parties to carry wire and stakes up to the front line. 1927W. Deeping Kitty xxi. 268 You've got a front line face. It's the March wind. 1931Times 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. 1936Economist 8 Feb. 291/1 The Government's declared programme of enlarging the Air Force to a strength of 2,100 ‘front line machines’. 1955Jazzbook 1955 18 A coloured front line..and a mixed white and coloured rhythm section. 1959J. S. Wilson Collector's Jazz: Modern 49 Brown makes some adept front-line uses of his bass on Bass Hit, Verve 8022. 1962A. Nisbett Technique Sound Studio xiii. 225 This front-line audience can be of immense value to him in cross-checking his calculation or intuition. 1965G. Melly Owning-Up vi. 72 The front line were blowing through their mouth pieces to warm them up sufficiently to play in tune. 1975Economist 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. 1976Guardian Weekly 19 Sept. 6/2 In Tanzania, Mozambique, and Botswana, the so-called ‘front-line states’, there is a mood of caution and pessimism. 1985Times 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.
1977New 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. 1984Listener 15 Mar. 5/1 He was planning to ‘front-load’ his campaign with successes in Iowa, New Hampshire and on ‘Super Tuesday’. 1984Which? Aug. 384/2 For front-loading automatics, eczema sufferers may find ordinary automatic washing powders less of a problem than biological ones.
1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 12 Jan. 84 (Advt.), Independent operation of *front-loaders, dozers, etc. 1970Guardian 17 Nov. 9/2 The best laundromat machines..are the front-loaders.
1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 8 Mar. 25/1 Taper ditching bucket and..hydraulic *front-loading shovel.
1937Amer. Speech XII. 46/1 *Front man, the leader of the band. 1946R. 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. 1977TV 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. 1985Washington Post 25 Oct. c3/1, I hate to sound like a front man for the Network of Bill Cosby.
1909Cent. Dict. Suppl., *Front matter. 1920Publishers' 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. 1966H. Williamson Methods Bk. Design (ed. 2) xii. 176 American designers sometimes use the terms ‘front matter’ and ‘end matter’.
1931W. 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. 1964Times 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. 1977H. Fast Immigrants v. 307 It's an investment. We call it front money, seed money. When the studio picks up, the money is repaid.
1877Bartlett 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. 1895Pall 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’. 1935Wodehouse Blandings Castle xii. 302 The Front Office has just sent out a communication to all writers. 1966Punch 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.
1902Out West Jan. 39 Bearing on its *front page a picture of the murderer, and the ‘story’. 1917Writer's Bulletin Mar. 56/2 He pounds the typewriter keys And in the distance clearly sees A front page story and a raise. 1917Wodehouse Uneasy Money xii. 134 ‘Why, we may all be murdered in our beds!’ he cried. ‘Front page stuff!’ said Roscoe Sherriff, with gleaming eyes. 1929Times 4 Feb. 13/5 The recent serious illness of the King has been ‘front page news’ from the beginning. 1929M. Lief Hangover 54 Most of these society dames front-paged their fed-uppance with tea-fights and garden soirées. 1957N.Z. News 17 Dec. 2/1 The New York Times front-paged Labour's victory. 1958Times 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. 1970Daily Tel. 1 Jan. 5/8 Mr Barber is too good a journalist not to give the whole story breathless front-page excitement.
1899Daily News 28 Feb. 4/7 A dazzling array of eminent ‘*front-pagers’. 1934A. Huxley Beyond Mexique Bay 3 The gay and charming front-pagers who go on winter cruises are, in the main, elderly people.
a1889Evening News (Barrère & Leland), At the Gaiety..a farce, ‘Lot 49’, by Mr. Fisher, as a *front piece to ‘Frankenstein’. 1907Daily Chron. 9 Nov. 4/4 Thirty-four full-length plays and seven front-pieces.
1855E. J. Hopkins Organ 73 Tin does not soon become tarnished; hence its peculiar appropriateness for ungilded ‘*front pipes’. 1905T. Elliston Organs & Tuning 393 The front pipes to be of stout V.M. zinc silvered with aluminium leaf. 1954Grove's Dict. Mus. (ed. 5) VI. 290/2 The front pipes were made of tin, those inside of lead.
1872G. 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. 1897Sears, Roebuck Catal. 579 This rifle..stands in the ‘front rank’ with the very best target rifles of this and other countries. 1899Westm. Gaz. 10 Mar. 4/3 Mr. Fox, another front-rank costumier. 1935Discovery Nov. 321 British manufacturers are in the front rank in this branch of scientific industry.
1905Westm. 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. 1914in E. C. Barnes Alfred Yarrow (1923) xxvii. 260 The Firedrake and Lurcher were looked upon as two front-rankers. 1928Manch. 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. 1963Times 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.
1679Moxon Mech. Exerc. I. vii. 133 If your Shop stand in an eminent Street, the *Front Rooms are commonly more Airy than the Back Rooms. 1827A. Royall Tennessean ii. 12 What were you doing in this front room? I was sweeping it. 1922Joyce Ulysses 690 He..reascended the stairs, reapproached the door of the front room, hallfloor, and reentered. 1976T. Sharpe Wilt ii. 11 She got the washing-up done and the front room vacuumed. 1986N.Y. Times 23 Feb. i. 18/4 Mr. Tutuola sits in the front room of his apartment, tugging constantly on his metal-stemmed pipe.
1940Time 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. 1958Times 24 Oct. 17/6 Eldon tried to front-run without the necessary strength and experience.
1914Automobile 27 Aug. 390/2 Always a *front-runner, he soon opened a gap on the field which looked to be a safe one. 1952Birmingham (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. 1960Times 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. 1970W. Smith Gold Mine vii. 18 He had joined C.R.C. a mere twelve years previously..and now he was the front runner.
1950N.Y. Times 11 June 53/2 Wade beat Pearman by nine yards in the 880 with a *front-running race. 1951Life 1 Oct. 32/1 Taft is the strongest single Republican and the front-running candidate for the '52 nomination.
1601Holland Pliny II. 631 The KK. of the East had their horses set out therewith [cochlides]..in their *frontstals. 1653Urquhart Rabelais ii. xii. 83 A barbed horse furnished with a frontstal. 1825Scott Talism. i, The front-stall of the bridle was a steel plate, with apertures for the eyes and nostrils.
1649G. 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.
1863R. H. Gronow Remin. II. 46 The cocked hat he always wore, placed *frontways on his head, like that of the Emperor Napoleon.
1774Goldsm. 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. 1885Middleton 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]. 1902A. 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.
1878Design & Work IV. 218/1, 52 in. Wolverhampton..with lamp and pouch, *front wheel brake. 1900Captain III. 463/2 Gamage's Holborn front wheel rim brake. 1904Goodchild & Tweney Technol. & Sci. Dict. 147/2 The front wheel brake usually carries two blocks on a horseshoe-shaped clip.
1908Westm. Gaz. 3 Nov. 4/1 The Allen-Liversidge system of *front-wheel braking.
1928Daily Mail 13 Aug. 12/6 Will the new principle of *front wheel drive prove a success? 1968N. Fleming Counter Paradise iii. 42 ‘Great heap,’ Jake grinned... ‘Yes..and it's got front-wheel drive.’ 1971Guardian 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. 2000R. 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.
1985B. 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. 1999Pi 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
[1613J. 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.] 1893J. 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. 1990E. 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.
1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. li. 73 The french king..purueyed suffyciently for all the forteresses frontyng on Flanders. 1583Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 88 Tarent..to which heunlye Lacinia fronteth. 1660F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 297 A countrey..fronts upon another Nation. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 143 Having a few small Rooms fronting outward. 1762H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. II. ii. 48 This room was erected..fronting westward to the privy-garden. 1864Tennyson En. Ard., Philip's dwelling fronted on the street. 1894Hall 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.
1665J. Webb Stone-Heng (1725) 105 Temples..should be so fronted, as that Travellers passing by might behold them. a1817T. 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.
1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 122 Like a gate of steele, Fronting the Sunne. 1696tr. Du Mont's Voy. Levant 2 All the Houses..which fronted the Bishop's Palace. 1749Fielding Tom Jones v. v, This enclosed place exactly fronted the foot of the bed. 1823F. Clissold Ascent Mt. Blanc 11 Fronting us, rose the summit of Mont Blanc. 1835Ure 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.).
1698Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 38 Opposite to this, one [Gate] more stately fronts the High-street. 1741Richardson Pamela (1883) I. 323 This alcove fronts the longest gravel-walk in the garden. 1833Act 3 & 4 Will. IV, c. 46 §90 The proprietor or proprietors of any buildings fronting any of the streets. 1847A. 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.
1583Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 55 Of Greeks thee first man with a gallant coompanye garded Fronted vs. 1596Spenser State Irel. (Globe) 660/1 He dare now to fronte princes. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. i. iii. 59 Front her, boord her, woe her, assayle her. c1618Fletcher Q. Corinth iv. iii, Amazed..at your..impudence, That dare thus front us. 1697Dryden Disc. Epic Poetry D 4, When æneas and Turnus stood fronting each other before the altar. 1701W. Wotton Hist. Rome, Marcus iv. 65 Some fell upon the Rear, some fronted them directly. 1837Hawthorne Amer. Note-bks. (1883) 104 Here you fronted the ocean, looking at a sail. 1839Carlyle Chartism (1842) 98 Evil, once manfully fronted, ceases to be evil. 1852Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. xvii. 222 Soldiers can be hired..to front death in its worst form. 1864Kirk Chas. Bold I. i. 22 The brazen pride with which he fronted accusation and reproach.
b. said of things.
1602W. Watson Decacordon 265 Would God such things..never had fronted our native shores! 1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. ii. 61 Those Warres Which fronted mine owne peace. 1637Heywood Royall King ii. iv. Wks. 1874 VI. 26, I am arm'd with innocence, And that dares front all danger. 1873Black Pr. Thule (1874) 6 At length, the boat..fronted the broad waters of the Atlantic.
4. To set face to face with, confront with.
1617Collins Def. Bp. Ely ii. ix. 351 The Cardinall had fronted him with one such false place out of Chrysostome. 1625Bacon Ess., Seditions (Arb.) 411 Which kinde of Persons, are..to be fronted, with some other, of the same Party, that may oppose them. 1853Robertson 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.
1635Davenant 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. 1742W. Cole in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) I. 228 They have..new Fronted the east front. 1762–71H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) IV. 231 He new fronted his house in Piccadilly. 1772J. G. W. De Brahm Hist. Georgia (1849) 45 The Savannah Bay is nearly fronted with contiguous Wharfs. 1782Cowper Let. Wks. 1837 XV. 116 My green-house..is fronted with myrtles, and lined with mats. a1817T. Dwight Trav. New Eng. (1821) II. 31 The Presbyterian church..is fronted with two towers. 1824Ann. 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.
1592Greene 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. 1599Broughton's Let. v. 15 You..haue fronted your Libell with this inscription. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 109 Hippocrates did wel to front his Axiomaticall Experiments..with the grand Miscariages in the practice of Physitians. a1732T. 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
1609Bp. 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.
1591Spenser Vis. Bellay ii, I saw a stately frame..With hundreth pillours fronting faire the same. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iv. v. 219 Yonder wals that pertly front your Towne..Must kisse their owne feet. 1791Mrs. Radcliffe Rom. Forest v, She came to the lawn which fronted the fabric. 1845Darwin Voy. Nat. xiv. (1879) 296 The coast..is fronted by many breakers. a1847Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor II. x. 3 A..mansion..fronted by a garden abounding with fruits and flowers. 1884Law 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.).
1932J. Sayre Rackety Rax vii. 55 You'll have to front for us, knowin' the collegiate racket and all. 1939R. Chandler Big Sleep xxvi. 232 Why should I front for that twist? 1939Nation 5 Aug. 134/2 America, accusing us of ‘fronting’ for the Semites and Communists. 1951Manch. Guardian Weekly 1 Mar. 3 Mr. Churchill agreed to ‘front’ for the quick pride of the Royal Navy. 1959M. Ainsworth Murder is Catching vii. 90 Was he merely doing his job..? Or was he fronting for Pender? 1971N. 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.
1936Amer. Mercury May p. x/2 Baton weaver, the joe personality who fronts the band. 1937Amer. Speech XII. 46/2 Ted is fronting for Smith's old band. 1946P. Fischer in Jazzways 48/2 Hampton was with the Les Hite Orchestra, occasionally ‘fronted’ by Louis Armstrong. 1949L. Feather Inside Be-Bop iii. 26 Coleman Hawkins, who was fronting Clarke's band, copyrighted the tune. 1958P. 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
1613Shakes. 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.
1635J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Banish'd Virg. 122 Upon this the third fronting to their flanckward spurr'd towards him. 1833Regul. Instr. Cavalry i. 14 He fronts to the left. 1847Infantry 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.
1802C. 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. 1807Pike Sources Mississ. iii. (1810) 258 The Spanish troops..were remarkably polite, always fronting and saluting when I passed. 1883Army 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.
1886Stevenson 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.
1796Instr. & Reg. Cavalry (1813) 74 He then Halts, fronts! it, and dresses and closes it to its pivot marker on the line. 1832Prop. Regul. Instr. Cavalry ii. 14 In the movement of Threes to a flank, the squadron should occupy but little more ground than when fronted. 1859F. A. Griffiths Artil. Man. (1862) 25 Each company in succession will be halted, and fronted.
†9. (See quot.) Obs.
1530Palsgr. 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.)
1808–18Jamieson, To front, applied to meat, when it swells in boiling. 1887S. 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.
1888H. 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. 1907H. C. Wyld Hist. Study Mother Tongue viii. 160 A natural inference is that..e being a front vowel, fronted the preceding consonant. 1929Encycl. Brit. I. 1/2 These [changes] are due to fronting..or to rounding. 1939Trans. Philol. Soc. 1939 89 In OE, Germ a appears as æ. Some dialects have e, but..the fronting first produced æ. 1964Language 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.
1978Daily 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. 1982M. Kington Miles & Miles 132 I'm doing a..13-part TV series... I think I'll get Frank Muir to front it. 1984National Times (Austral.) 2 Nov. 29/2 He will be fronting the show and performing most of the main roles. 1989N.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. c1400Destr. 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.
c1400Destr. Troy 6887 Þe freke, with a felle spere frunt vnto Ector. Ibid. 6890 He frunt of hys fol flat to þe ground. |