front: Meaning and Definition of

front

Pronunciation: (frunt), [key]
— n.
  1. the foremost part or surface of anything.
  2. the part or side of anything that faces forward: the front of a jacket.
  3. the part or side of anything, as a building, that seems to look out or to be directed forward: He sat in the front of the restaurant.
  4. any side or face, as of a building.
  5. a façade, considered with respect to its architectural treatment or material: a cast-iron front.
  6. a property line along a street or the like: a fifty-foot front.
  7. a place or position directly before anything: We decided to plant trees in the front.
  8. a position of leadership in a particular endeavor or field: She rose to the front of her profession.
    1. the foremost line or part of an army.
    2. a line of battle.
    3. the place where combat operations are carried on.
  9. an area of activity, conflict, or competition: news from the business front.
  10. land facing a road, river, etc.
  11. a promenade along a seashore.
  12. a distinguished person listed as an official of an organization, for the sake of prestige, and who is usually inactive.
  13. a person or thing that serves as a cover or disguise for some other activity, esp. one of a secret, disreputable, or illegal nature; a blind: The store was a front for foreign agents.
  14. outward impression of rank, position, or wealth.
  15. bearing or demeanor in confronting anything: a calm front.
  16. haughtiness; self-importance: That clerk has the most outrageous front.
  17. the forehead, or the entire face: the statue's gracefully chiseled front.
  18. a coalition or movement to achieve a particular end, usually political: the people's front.
  19. something attached or worn at the breast, as a shirt front or a dickey: to spill gravy down one's front.
  20. an interface or zone of transition between two dissimilar air masses.
    1. the auditorium.
    2. the business offices of a theater.
    3. the front of the stage; downstage.
  21. in a forward place or position: Sit down, you in front!
  22. to walk in front of a moving crowd.
    1. ahead of:to walk in front of a moving crowd.
    2. outside the entrance of:to wait in front of a house.
    3. in the presence of:to behave badly in front of company.
  23. He's waiting out front.
    1. outside the entrance:He's waiting out front.
    2. ahead of competitors:This advertising campaign ought to put our business way out front.
    3. Theat.in the audience or auditorium.
    4. Informal.candidly; frankly:Say what you mean out front.
  24. You'll have to make a payment of $5,000 up front.
    1. in advance; before anything else:You'll have to make a payment of $5,000 up front.
    2. frank; open; direct:I want you to be up front with me.
—adj.
  1. of or pertaining to the front.
  2. situated in or at the front: front seats.
  3. (of a speech sound) articulated with the tongue blade relatively far forward in the mouth, as the sounds of lay.
—v.t.
  1. to have the front toward; face: Our house fronts the lake.
  2. to meet face to face; confront.
  3. to face in opposition, hostility, or defiance.
  4. to furnish or supply a front to: to front a building with sandstone.
  5. to serve as a front to: A long, sloping lawn fronted their house.
  6. to provide an introduction to; introduce: a recorded message that is fronted with a singing commercial.
  7. to lead (a jazz or dance band).
  8. to articulate (a speech sound) at a position farther front in the mouth.
  9. to move (a constituent) to the beginning of a clause or sentence.
—v.i.
  1. to have or turn the front in some specified direction: Our house fronts on the lake.
  2. to serve as a cover or disguise for another activity, esp. something of a disreputable or illegal nature: The shop fronts for a narcotics ring.
—interj.
  1. (used to call or command someone to come, look, etc., to the front, as in an order to troops on parade or in calling a hotel bellboy to the front desk): Front and center, on the double!

front.

Pronunciation: [key]
  1. frontispiece.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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