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Dictionary

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.
9. Mil.
a. the foremost line or part of an army.
b. a line of battle.
c. the place where combat operations are carried on.
10. an area of activity, conflict, or competition: news from the business front.
11. land facing a road, river, etc.
12. Brit.a promenade along a seashore.
13. Informal.a distinguished person listed as an official of an organization, for the sake of prestige, and who is usually inactive.
14. 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.
15. outward impression of rank, position, or wealth.
16. bearing or demeanor in confronting anything: a calm front.
17. haughtiness; self-importance: That clerk has the most outrageous front.
18. the forehead, or the entire face: the statue's gracefully chiseled front.
19. a coalition or movement to achieve a particular end, usually political: the people's front.
20. something attached or worn at the breast, as a shirt front or a dickey: to spill gravy down one's front.
21. Meteorol.an interface or zone of transition between two dissimilar air masses.
22. Theat.
a. the auditorium.
b. the business offices of a theater.
c. the front of the stage; downstage.
23. in front, in a forward place or position: Sit down, you in front!
24. in front of,
a. ahead of: to walk in front of a moving crowd.
b. outside the entrance of: to wait in front of a house.
c. in the presence of: to behave badly in front of company.
25. out front,
a. outside the entrance: He's waiting out front.
b. ahead of competitors: This advertising campaign ought to put our business way out front.
c. Theat.in the audience or auditorium.
d. Informal.candidly; frankly: Say what you mean out front.
26. up front, Informal.
a. in advance; before anything else: You'll have to make a payment of $5,000 up front.
b. 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. Phonet.(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. Informal.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. Phonet.to articulate (a speech sound) at a position farther front in the mouth.
9. Ling.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.
(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!