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• 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.

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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.

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front. ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. frontispiece

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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

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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

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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.

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front More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing front

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

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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

There are coffee shops Jackson Duran-Pincus can walk to, and neighbors to chat with when he hangs out on his front porch—which is how we’ve gotten to know each other.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026

Bethan Gammon top scored for the Welsh side with 58 but they were all out for 211, with Horley also leading from the front with the ball when taking 4 for 36.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

Bourdeaux said she’s not expecting much on that front, noting the Trump administration has failed to put out a traditional budget proposal with detailed projections.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 20, 2026

When he joined the back of the line, he said, the note could purchase two loaves of bread; by the time he got to the front, it bought him half a loaf.

From Slate ● Sep. 20, 2026

She glanced back, and even though they’d made it to the front, the line seemed to have grown even longer.

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

“Because the chemistry of playing with each other, kind of learning how each other rush, how each other play, not just Myles, just the whole front. ... It’s exciting.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 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

“I sound like someone who reads too much. Come on. We sit up front. My father will be down soon.”

From "The Chosen" by Chaim Potok

Readings of market breadth, which take into account how the majority of stocks are performing, rather than just those in major indexes, are negative on many fronts.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 18, 2026

They are pleased with progress thus far on both fronts, a senior U.S. official said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

Attempts at diplomacy have floundered as fighting escalates on several fronts across Africa's third-largest country.

From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026

To make the cabinets her own, she took inspiration from Danish flower paintings and began hand-painting pink flowers against a white background on the fronts, allowing them to be bordered by the original brown.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

In other words, they were working on multiple fronts not to have me around.

From "Proud" by Ibtihaj Muhammad

Aggrey recalled a time in 2015 when he wasn’t able to afford both the taxes on those options and rent, and his roommate fronted him $200.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Brydon fronted the BBC documentary series Honky Tonk Road Trip, where he travelled across the American South to celebrate 100 years of country music.

From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2026

And while soccer remains her main duty, she has also covered the Kentucky Derby numerous times and has fronted NBC’s coverage of the last seven Olympics.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026

The superhero film fronted by Tom Holland and real-life wife Zendaya brought in $39 million, down 45 percent on last weekend's take.

From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026

The pyramid’s main gates fronted on Meereen’s central plaza, but the Domishmen made their way to a side entrance opening on an alley.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin

Spinning that lore for a modern audience, then, calls for fronting the cast with a star whose popular persona is outsized compared to his dramatic proficiency.

From Salon ● Aug. 2, 2026

He didn’t like composing radio hooks or fronting a traditional band.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

Off the pitch, Sir David has become the face of the World Cup, fronting advertising campaigns for 11 brands ranging from McDonald's and Major League Soccer to Stella Artois, Home Depot and Bank of America.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Ernst returns to Tokyo, now fronting as a playboy plutocrat to mask his espionage.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

Magazines, brought from Earth on the silver rocket a month before, fluttered, untouched, burning brown, on wire racks fronting the silent drugstores.

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury

Related Words

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