shirtfrontv.
/ˈʃəːtfrʌnt/, U.S. /ˈʃərtˌfrənt/, Australian English /ˈʃɜːtfrʌnt/ Originally Australian.
1. transitive. In Australian Rules football: to run directly at and collide with (an opposing player); to knock down (an opponent) in this way. Cf. shirt front n. 4a.
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1956 Argus (Melbourne) 21 Apr. 11 With reckless abandon players were bowled, flattened, and ‘shirt-fronted’ as two sides sought to crash through to victory.
1985 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) (Nexis) 16 Sept. Ford was taken off on a stretcher..when he was shirt-fronted by North Melbourne centreman Matthew Larkin.
2. transitive. In extended use: to collide with (a person) forcefully or aggressively. Also figurative: to confront or challenge aggressively.
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1977 Telegraph (Brisbane) 31 Dec. 4 He recalls one boozy evening in 1950 when he was almost shirt-fronted by a very drunk Ernest Hemingway.
1994 Australian 7 Oct. (Business section) 11/1 It was another thing altogether for him to be shirt-fronting the heavy crims in Casuarina.
2014 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 17 Oct. a3 Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Monday threatened to ‘shirtfront’ Putin when they attend a Brisbane summit of the Group of 20 nations.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2021; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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v.1956