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• 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.

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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]

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Etymology

Origin of fore-and-aft

First recorded in 1610–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fore-and-aft fore and aft

He noticed that the fore-and-aft stick movement, which raises or lowers the nose of the aircraft in flight, was slightly stiff, but he thought nothing of it at the time.

From Time Magazine Archive

An extended flying bridge deck provides good cover for the cockpit and fore-and-aft storage for the shore boat.

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

At each mansion, Trujillo kept a full wardrobe of uniforms complete with white-plumed fore-and-aft hats.

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

Unlike the British specialty aircraft, the NC-4 and its sister seaplanes were built to be submarine chasers with machine gun mounts fore and aft.

From Washington Times ● May 16, 2019

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

From New York Times ● Nov. 10, 2016

As the varnish dried and hardened on the fabric, it created a fragile and lovely translucent yellow decking fore and aft.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown