confrontcon‧front /kənˈfrʌnt/ ●○○ verb [transitive] 
The problems confronting the new government were enormous.be confronted with something Customers are confronted with a bewildering amount of choice.2to deal with something very difficult or unpleasant in a brave and determined way: We try to help people confront their problems.3to face someone in a threatening way, as though you are going to attack them: Troops were confronted by an angry mob.4to accuse someone of doing something, especially by showing them the proofconfront somebody with/about something I confronted him with my suspicions, and he admitted everything. I haven’t confronted her about it yet.
WORD ORIGINconfront
Origin:
1500-1600 French confronter ‘to have a border with, confront’, from Medieval Latin, from Latin com- ( ➔ COM-) + frons ( ➔ FRONT1)VERB TABLE
confront
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | confront |
| he, she, it | confronts | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | confronted |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have confronted |
| he, she, it | has confronted | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had confronted |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will confront |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have confronted |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am confronting |
| he, she, it | is confronting | |
| you, we, they | are confronting | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was confronting |
| you, we, they | were confronting | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been confronting |
| he, she, it | has been confronting | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been confronting |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be confronting |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been confronting |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- The FBI confronted Schmidt with the evidence of his part in the murder plot.
- The play is about a woman who confronts the man who tortured her in prison.
- They were confronted by about five men, one of whom had a gun.
- We try to help people confront their problems.
- At our bakery, when we set up the loaves for baking the next day a similar dilemma confronts us.
- At the same time, serious threats to the stability of the infant democracy also had to be confronted.
- He spent time with customers, confronted the Power Supply Division and central staffs, and acted swiftly on all decisions.
- He would have liked to be able to confront and examine his own previous self.
- Move his two hundred in behind those fleeing ones, to confront the enemy?
- Overall, there are several major issues confronting us on the media front right now.
- Their lives were now confronted by earthshaking change, by the arrival of the modern world.
Longman Language Activatorto say that you think someone has done something bad
: accuse somebody of doing something · Human rights lawyers have accused the police of beating Murkett to death. · The man accused of kidnapping Lucy Pohl has been found guilty.accuse somebody of something · Protesters angrily accused the police of violence and intimidation.· A former businessman has gone on trial accused of a two million pound investment fraud.accuse somebody · How can you accuse me without knowing all the facts?
a statement saying that someone has done something bad : make an accusation: · You've made a lot of accusations but you haven't come up with any evidence to support them.accusation against: · A spokesman said the accusations against Mr Fallon would be investigated.accusation of: · There have been accusations of racism in the Los Angeles Police Department.level an accusation against somebody/something formal (=make an accusation): · A number of accusations have been levelled against Hutchinson by his former colleagues.wild accusation (=an accusation made without thinking carefully first): · You shouldn't make any wild accusations if you're not absolutely sure that Wilkins stole the money.
to say publicly that someone has done something bad or illegal, even though this has not been proved - used especially in newspapers and news reports : (allege that): · In a statement to the press, Massey alleged that her husband had planned to kill her.be alleged to have done something: · Taylor is alleged to have used public money to buy expensive presents for her friends.it is alleged that: · It has been alleged that senior officials were involved in a $20 million drugs deal.
a public statement saying that someone has done something bad or illegal, even though this has not been proved: make an allegation: · The newspaper made several allegations, none of which turned out to be true.allegation of: · There were allegations of corruption in the police department.allegation about: · The book contains shocking allegations about the senator's private life.allegation that: · There have been allegations in the press that the fire was started deliberately.serious allegation: · These are serious allegations. Do you have any evidence to support them?deny an allegation (=say it is false): · Weimar denied allegations of financial mismanagement.
to accuse someone of doing something by showing them the proof against them: confront somebody with the evidence/proof etc: · The FBI confronted Schmidt with the evidence of his part in the murder plot.
to say that you think someone is probably responsible for something bad that has happened, although you do not have definite proof: · Someone's lost the letter and the boss is pointing the finger at me.
if you look at, point at, or speak to someone accusingly , you do it in a way that shows you think they have done something bad: · Janet suddenly pointed at me, and everyone looked at me accusingly.· "You did it, Tom," she said accusingly. "I know you didn't mean to, but you did do it."
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY We try to help people confront their problems.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1if a problem, difficulty etc confronts you, it appears and needs to be dealt with: We try to help people confront their problems. (=consider or deal with it)· They had to confront some unpleasant realities about themselves.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Those Chewong who behave in unacceptable ways can not be confronted directly.· The problem can also be discussed in Sunday-school classes or confronted directly in a sermon on the subject of family violence.· The rationalization of modern life, suggest those who adopt the functionalist style, must be directly confronted.· The problem of control by the masses tends not to be confronted directly.· If you suspect that others also haven't read the papers always confront directly on the issue.
· But his frustration was part of the larger crisis which now confronted him, as it did everyone else.· Their lives were now confronted by earthshaking change, by the arrival of the modern world.· This unthinkable predicament of modernity in the Orient is what now confronts the West in the Gulf.· A single bold stroke can not resolve political difficulties as fundamental as those Mondale faced and Dole now confronts.· We must now confront the rather more daunting problems of differentiating lexical units paradigmatically.· Their utility functions may remain unchanged, but the income constraints which now confront them have altered.
NOUN· To be blunt about it, the challenge confronting Mr Heseltine is how to maintain his momentum.· Perhaps the most immediate challenge confronts Sen.· Given its inherent curiosity, even the simplest mind will exhaust itself devising solutions to challenges it confronts.
· There are practical difficulties which confront any attempt to fly in supplies to those in need.
· Bob Mays had to confront the fact that for years he had been loving some one else's daughter.· Earlier there had been reports that actress Julie Walters was having to confront the fact that her child had leukaemia.· They have been forced to confront two important facts.· Giselle discovers Albrecht's deceit when Bathilde confronts her with the fact that the Count Albrecht is her fiancé.
· This time, he convinced himself, he would confront his fears and get on with his life.· I plunk down a dollar and confront my deepest fears.· This destroys your impetus and your courage to confront your fears.· Spider then is able to confront his fear and on the big night, he takes second place in the spelling bee.· As with any situation, facing up to the facts, confronting and questioning your fears can help.· We aim to confront the legitimate fears and aspirations of both communities.· You must confront your fears and doubts and take risks again and again.
· Cell I illustrates the situation where the government chooses continued hard-line rule and the opposition openly confronts the government.· It is not as if there is a shortage of reasons to confront the government.· The problem which confronted the Government arose out of the confluence of two streams of difficulty.· Inevitably, many organisations have been created which effectively avoided confronting the government.
· In order to participate meaningfully within the community members of this group must actively engage in the issues that confront them.· The major issues that confront parents with caregivers are rivalries and maintaining the primacy of the family.· But there is one issue that confronts the Grammy Award-winning musician almost everywhere he goes -- much to his distress.· But that was not the only controversial issue confronting Powell's Bureau.· The article illustrates at least three important issues confronting many academic institutions.· Overall, there are several major issues confronting us on the media front right now.
· Balvinder jumped up and down, punched the air, then promptly confronted the man with whom he had made the bet.· The same man apparently also posed as a deacon at a nearby Catholic parish but fled when confronted.· Within a few minutes, about fifteen members of the white fraternity Phi Alpha Pi arrived and confronted the two black men.· One night at La Maze, a restaurant on the Strip, Bogie was confronted by a large man.· She must confront the man, drive him off.· The brave soldier was alone but stood his ground after confronting the men in the dead of night.· Charles was equally determined to confront the men who had so recently betrayed him.
· A black man, believed to be in his 30s, was shot after being confronted by police.· An angry crowd gathered, confronting the police, who showed little interest in dispersing them, and began taunting the marshals.
· The problem which confronted the Government arose out of the confluence of two streams of difficulty.· The same problem confronts you that does the people that run the subways in New York City.· However, a number of problems confront investigators applying this technique to studies of alcoholic liver disease.· The problem confronting software developers remains the high cost of creating and competitively marketing these products.· They were seen as being responsible for the real problems that confront ordinary citizens.· Structure: one of the biggest writing problems businesspeople confront.· Those Volunteers for whom the experience was most meaningful were those who acquired clear insights into the problems confronting a developing society.· Here are some problems that have confronted scientists in the past.
· It was the birth of his own son that confronted him with questions.· Both sides must confront tough questions.· And you have been forced to confront the big questions of life-Why are we here?· The bank and the fund are also confronted with pressing questions about their ability to deliver their promises.· This last example of a conclusion is lengthy but notice how it confronts the question.· The ongoing comedy of Conservative policy gives Labour the chance to confront the tax question head on.
· For the first time Nizan was forced to confront the social reality of the process of schooling.· Doug Ross, who ran the Michigan Department of Commerce during the 1980s, confronted this reality head on.· As a nation, we are right to finally confront the stark reality of needless suffering among the dying.· To confront that reality some sorry, drunken night on the shore of an Arizona lake might provoke any of 100 reactions.· In the very first days and weeks on the job, all confronted the daily realities in being a manager.· But this remedy fails to confront the reality of a male youth culture nearly immune to all the blandishments of established society.
· Would you so react to the particular situation which confronts us now, if you were not applying the standard mechanically?
· These are tasks which confront legal theory and political philosophy together.· One is identification of the specific tasks confronting each of the four learners.
· I would not for a moment propose we face the same immediate peril confronting the world in the early 1940s.· And that is going to confront the world with a painful moral dilemma.· In the end, the sociology of a world economy would find a world bourgeoisie confronting a world proletariat.
VERB· Turning, she found herself confronting Jamie Baird.· Revered by many, the institution now finds itself confronted by critics.· With agonising slowness the great gates swung inwards and Jamie found himself confronting ... a bear.· In the end, the sociology of a world economy would find a world bourgeoisie confronting a world proletariat.· He found himself confronted by a sorrier specimen than himself.· We now find ourselves confronting a massive pay-back.
· They have been forced to confront two important facts.· When the time comes for him to write his next report, Blue is forced to confront this dilemma.· Pragmatism sought to force philosophers to confront doubt.· Stacy said the fliers showed the type of mentality the university has been forced to confront since the fall semester began.· For the first time Nizan was forced to confront the social reality of the process of schooling.· Many economists avoid talking about unemployment in public, adopting a rather sheepish tone when forced to confront the issue.· Campaigners hope that the spotlight thrown by the Etireno has forced the industry to confront some of these issues.· It forced me to confront a messy tangle of emotions.
The problems confronting the new government were enormous.be confronted with something Customers are confronted with a bewildering amount of choice.2to deal with something very difficult or unpleasant in a brave and determined way: We try to help people confront their problems.3to face someone in a threatening way, as though you are going to attack them: Troops were confronted by an angry mob.4to accuse someone of doing something, especially by showing them the proofconfront somebody with/about something I confronted him with my suspicions, and he admitted everything. I haven’t confronted her about it yet.