front office

American  

noun

• front offices
  plural

1. the executive or administrative office of a company, organization, etc.

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front office Idioms  

1. The policy-making or executive individuals in an organization, as in I'll have to check with the front office before I can give you a discount. This term was originally underworld slang for police headquarters or the main detective bureau. It soon was extended to other administrative offices and their personnel. [c. 1900]

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• front-office
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• front offices
  plural

Etymology

Origin of front office

An Americanism dating back to 1895–1900

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

front office

The front office tried to remedy that in the off-season, and the revamped defence was impressive in their opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026

Now, with their front office kneecapped for the foreseeable future, the Clippers will face a much harder challenge.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

“Whatever he wants to be in the front office, he’s going to be it, because that’s just who he is,” Freeman said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

The Phillies had two of the top young executives in the game in their front office in Fuld and Preston Mattingly.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

I collected my things and started for the front office.

From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben