fore-and-aft
- located along or parallel to a line from the stem to the stern.
Origin of fore-and-aft
fore1
- situated at or toward the front, as compared with something else.
- first in place, time, order, rank, etc.; forward; earlier.
- Nautical.
- of or relating to a foremast.
- noting a sail, yard, boom, etc., or any rigging belonging to a fore lower mast or to some upper mast of a foremast.
- noting any stay running aft and upward to the head of a fore lower mast or to some specified upper mast of a foremast: fore topmast stay.
- situated at or toward the bow of a vessel; forward.
- the forepart of anything; front.
- the fore, Nautical. the foremast.
- Also 'fore. Informal. before.
- fore and aft, Nautical. in, at, or to both ends of a ship.
- to the fore,
- into a conspicuous place or position; to or at the front.
- at hand; ready; available.
- still alive.
Origin of fore1
fore1
- (usually in combination) located at, in, or towards the frontthe forelegs of a horse
- the front part
- something located at, in, or towards the front
- short for foremast
- fore and aft located at or directed towards both ends of a vessela fore-and-aft rig
- to the fore
- to or into the front or conspicuous position
- Scot and Irishalive or activeis your grandfather still to the fore?
- at or towards a ship's bow
- obsolete before
- a less common word for before
Word Origin
fore2
- (in golf) a warning shout made by a player about to make a shot
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for fore and aft
fore
adv.
Old English fore (prep.) "before, in front of;" (adv.) "before, previously," common Germanic (cf. Old High German fora, Old Frisian fara, German vor, Gothic faiura, Old Norse fyrr "for"); from PIE *pr-, from root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per).
As a noun, from 1630s. The warning cry in golf is first recorded 1878, probably a contraction of before.
fore
adj.
mid-15c., "forward;" late 15c., "former, earlier;" early 16c., "at the front;" all senses apparently from fore- compounds, which frequently were written as two words in Middle English.
Idioms and Phrases with 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
In addition to the idioms beginning with fore
- fore and aft
also see:
- to the fore