Jump To:

• fore-and-aft
  fore-and-aft

  adjective

  located along or parallel to a line from the stem to the stern.
• fore and aft
  fore and aft

  Both front and back, everywhere, as in The children clung to the teacher fore and aft. This expression is nautical terminology for the bow, or front, and the stern, or back, of a vessel. Today it is also used more broadly. [First half of 1600s]

fore-and-aft

American  

[fawr-uhnd-aft, -ahft, fohr-] / ˈfɔr əndˈæft, -ˈɑft, ˈfoʊr- /

adjective

1. located along or parallel to a line from the stem to the stern.

---

adverb

1. fore.

fore and aft Idioms  

1. Both front and back, everywhere, as in The children clung to the teacher fore and aft. This expression is nautical terminology for the bow, or front, and the stern, or back, of a vessel. Today it is also used more broadly. [First half of 1600s]

---

Etymology

Origin of fore-and-aft

First recorded in 1610–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fore-and-aft fore and aft

Improvements in rigging enabled the construction of larger, more maneuverable ships with both square-rigged and fore-and-aft sails.

From Time Magazine Archive

The starboard stateroom has fore-and-aft twins, while the port is fitted with an athwartship queen berth.

From Time Magazine Archive

The wave would rise through the keel and cradle the hull at its fore-and-aft point of balance.

From Time Magazine Archive

The hatch seats and a fore-and-aft portside passenger seat form an L-shaped settee.

From Time Magazine Archive

The third stage vibrated quite a bit, not from side to side but with a choppy fore-and-aft motion which was felt as almost a buzz.

From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins

In Montana, the GPS searches for my salvation, fore and aft.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 20, 2020

Her 20-foot fiberglass boat, with snarling teeth painted on the bow, had fore and aft cabins and an open space in the middle where she could work the oars.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2020

Large fore and aft cargo doors can malfunction and leak.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 8, 2020

For passengers in the rear, seating slides fore and aft for extra leg room.

From New York Times ● Nov. 10, 2016

Mrs. Johnson loved it; she was in love with the redwood paneling, the wall-to- wall carpeting, the picture windows fore and aft, the view that the rear window provided—hills, a valley, then sky and ocean.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote