Jump To:

• front
  front

  noun

  the foremost part or surface of anything.
• front.
  front.

  abbreviation

  frontispiece.

front

¹ American  

[fruhnt] / frʌnt /

noun

fronts plural

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. Military.

   1. the foremost line or part of an army.

   2. a line of battle.

   3. 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. British. 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, especially 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. Meteorology. an interface or zone of transition between two dissimilar air masses.

22. Theater.

    1. the auditorium.

    2. the business offices of a theater.

    3. the front of the stage; downstage.

---

adjective

1. of or relating to the front.

2. situated in or at the front.

   front seats.

3. Phonetics. (of a speech sound) articulated with the tongue blade relatively far forward in the mouth, as the sounds of lay.

verb (used with object)

fronts, present (3rd person singular) fronted, past participle, past fronting present participle

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. Phonetics. to articulate (a speech sound) at a position farther front in the mouth.

9. Linguistics. to move (a constituent) to the beginning of a clause or sentence.

verb (used without object)

fronts, present (3rd person singular) fronted, past participle, past fronting present participle

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, especially something of a disreputable or illegal nature.

   The shop fronts for a narcotics ring.

interjection

1. (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!

idioms

1. out front,

   1. outside the entrance.

      He's waiting out front.

   2. ahead of competitors.

      This advertising campaign ought to put our business way out front.

   3. Theater. in the audience or auditorium.

   4. Informal. candidly; frankly.

      Say what you mean out front.

2. up front,

   1. in advance; before anything else.

      You'll have to make a payment of $5,000 up front.

   2. frank; open; direct.

      I want you to be up front with me.

3. in front of,

   1. ahead of.

      to walk in front of a moving crowd.

   2. outside the entrance of.

      to wait in front of a house.

   3. in the presence of.

      to behave badly in front of company.

4. in front, in a forward place or position.

   Sit down, you in front!

front. ² American  

abbreviation

1. frontispiece.

---

front. ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. frontispiece

---

front ² British  

/ frʌnt /

noun

1. that part or side that is forward, prominent, or most often seen or used

2. a position or place directly before or ahead

   a fountain stood at the front of the building

3. the beginning, opening, or first part

   the front of the book

4. the position of leadership; forefront; vanguard

   in the front of scientific knowledge

5. land bordering a lake, street, etc

6. land along a seashore or large lake, esp a promenade

7. military

   1. the total area in which opposing armies face each other

   2. the lateral space in which a military unit or formation is operating

      to advance on a broad front

   3. the direction in which troops are facing when in a formed line

8. meteorol the dividing line or plane between two air masses or water masses of different origins and having different characteristics See also warm front cold front

9. outward aspect or bearing, as when dealing with a situation

   a bold front

10. assurance, overconfidence, or effrontery

11. informal a business or other activity serving as a respectable cover for another, usually criminal, organization

12. a nominal leader of an organization, etc, who lacks real power or authority; figurehead

13. informal outward appearance of rank or wealth

14. a particular field of activity involving some kind of struggle

    on the wages front

15. a group of people with a common goal

    a national liberation front

16. a false shirt front; a dicky

17. archaic the forehead or the face

---

adjective

1. of, at, or in the front

   a front seat

2. phonetics of, relating to, or denoting a vowel articulated with the blade of the tongue brought forward and raised towards the hard palate, as for the sound of ee in English see or a in English hat

3. at an advantage, outclassing and outmanoeuvring one's opponents

verb

1. to be opposite (to); face (onto)

   this house fronts the river

2. (tr) to be a front of or for

3. informal (tr) to appear as a presenter in (a television show)

4. (tr) to be the lead singer or player in (a band)

5. (tr) to confront, esp in hostility or opposition

6. (tr) to supply a front for

7. informal to appear (at)

   to front up at the police station

front Scientific  

/ frŭnt /

1. The boundary between two air masses that have different temperatures or humidity. In the mid-latitude areas of the Earth, where warm tropical air meets cooler polar air, the systems of fronts define the weather and often cause precipitation to form. Warm air, being lighter than cold air, tends to rise, cool, and condense along such boundaries, forming rain or snow.

2. See also cold front occluded front polar front stationary front warm front

---

front Cultural  

1. In meteorology, the line that forms the boundary between two air masses. Unless they are very similar in temperature and humidity, they will not mix.

---

front More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing front

• brave face (front)
• in front of
• out front
• up front

---

Discover More

Fronts usually produce unstable weather.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• frontless
  adjective
• unfronted
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• fronts
  plural

Participles

• fronting
  present
• fronted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• front
  simple
• fronts
  simple
• have fronted
  perfect
• has fronted
  perfect
• am fronting
  progressive
• are fronting
  progressive
• is fronting
  progressive
• have been fronting
  perfect progressive
• has been fronting
  perfect progressive

Past

• fronted
  simple
• had fronted
  perfect
• was fronting
  progressive
• were fronting
  progressive
• had been fronting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will front
  simple
• will have fronted
  perfect
• will be fronting
  progressive
• will have been fronting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of front

1250–1300; Middle English frount, front < Anglo-French, Old French < Latin front- (stem of frōns ) forehead, brow, front

Explanation

The front is the side that faces outward. If you are in a battle on the eastern front, then you are in the battle the farthest east of any part of the war. Front comes from the Latin word for forehead, and it means the side of something facing out, or the part of something (a body, a weather system, a war), that's advancing into a new territory, or frontier. A front man is someone used as a cover for questionable activity. Similarly, a front can be an activity used as a cover for some other, questionable, activity, like a Laundromat that's really a front for a mafia headquarters.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

front front. fronts fronted fronting

Where was the immediate pronouncement that they will not sit quietly while their journalists are demeaned in front of their colleagues?

From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026

"I told him: 'Be careful because in front of us is a nightmare, we don't know what will happen,'" explained Pierre Alexandre.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026

But the clay was dry and there was a colorful palette of pigments in front of me.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

On another front, US ally Israel accused Hezbollah of firing a drone at an Israeli vehicle inside Lebanese territory, in what it called a violation of their truce.

From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026

One of the girls seated in front of me tilted her head as if to ask if I was all right.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Speaking at a ground-breaking ceremony in Sinaloa, Johnson said, “We may soon see significant action on this front. So, stay tuned.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026

“We may soon see significant action on this front. So, stay tuned.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 26, 2026

"My message is going to be: have the discipline on the fiscal front. You don't have much fiscal space. Use it very wisely, don't make the job of central bankers harder."

From Barron's ● Apr. 9, 2026

"Many people watching want to see beautiful football or purists want to see open play great goals back to front." he said.

From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2026

He said: “My own beloved girlfriend died in the war. She died on the elfin front. Blanchepon was her name. She died.”

From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin

SatVu said the picture showed fire fronts moving north in the Abernethy National Nature Reserve, one of the area's affected by the incident.

From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026

Conditions remained "very unfavourable" on major fronts, including the southwestern regions of Gironde and Landes, and in the Mediterranean Var region.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

This will stall rain-bearing weather fronts and any wet weather will become confined to northern and western areas - especially north-west Scotland.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

While traders in the past have been able to offset the bad news in one area by focusing on the positives elsewhere, analysts said they were now struggling to fire-fight on three fronts.

From Barron's ● Jul. 24, 2026

Their names are like names in a footnote, or names written in spidery brown ink in the fronts of Bibles.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

She fronted up for difficult interviews after every defeat, never wavered in her support of her team-mates, endlessly put in hard graft after injuries threatened to end her career before she was ready.

From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026

If that familiar show is fronted by a known star and made by people’s friends, it’s even more likely it’ll get some love on nominations day.

From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026

Rooted in cooking over competition, the shows that are greenlit these days are typically fronted by celebrities, often with various degrees of experience in the kitchen.

From Salon ● Jun. 3, 2026

Chalmers also fronted events including Miss World, and presented a daily morning show on BBC Radio 2 in the early 1990s.

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

It fronted the jungle, and as I investigated it — hoping to find a pot, a lighter, anything — the bonobos joined me.

From "Endangered" by Eliot Schrefer

It is a lesson in contrasts—hard geometries and muted hues fronting loose forms and cheerful colors—that evinces the influence of Pierre Bonnard and Édouard Vuillard on his work.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

She went on to host Big Brother in the 2010s during its tenure on Channel 5, fronting Big Brother's bit on the side before moving to the main show and its celebrity spin-off.

From BBC ● May 19, 2026

I’m fronting the cost and they’ve agreed to reimburse me via rent credits.

From MarketWatch ● May 5, 2026

Kemp rose to prominence playing Grant throughout the 1990s, before pursuing other acting roles and fronting a series of documentaries on gangs.

From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026

Those who accept are assigned a guard who, as he leads the tourist along the iron walkway fronting the death cells, is likely to identify the condemned with what he must consider comic formality.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

Related Words

• facade
• face
• façade
• front line
• head
• top