front burner

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noun

Informal. a condition or position of top priority: Put the project on the front burner and finish it as soon as possible.

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Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

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Compare back burner.

Origin of front burner

First recorded in 1965–70; by analogy with back burner

OTHER WORDS FROM front burner

front-burner, adjective

Words nearby front burner

frontal sulcus, frontal suture, front and center, front bench, front bottom, front burner, front burner, on a, front channel, front court, front desk, front dive

How to use front burner in a sentence

Basketball observers who have given him the out-of-sight, out-of-mind treatment should respond by moving him to the front burner.
Remember Kevin Durant? The best player in the East is back for the Brooklyn Nets|Ben Golliver|November 30, 2020|Washington Post
In front of this strange structure are two blank-faced, well-dressed models showing off the latest in European minimalism.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As the protagonist gets herself off in front of her impotent husband, she moans “Oh, Gronky.”
‘A Gronking to Remember’ Speed Read: 8 Naughtiest Bits|Emily Shire|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Granted, James is in an office in the Pentagon, and not on the front lines.
Pentagon Doesn’t Know How Many People It’s Killed in the ISIS War|Nancy A. Youssef|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

The next phase of the trial consists of vaccinating Ebola workers on the front lines.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine|Abby Haglage|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Hmm, who are these people standing in front of the machines at the gym, neither occupying them nor not occupying them?
How to Survive the New Year ‘Gympocalypse’|Tim Teeman|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Off went the officers again, some distance to the front, and then back again to their men, and got them on a little further.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
The doors (Indian bungalows have hardly any windows, each door being half glass) were open front and back.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy
She got up and stood in front of the fire, having her hand on the chimney-piece and looking down at the blaze.
Confidence|Henry James
Then they all passed out through the great front door to the wide old veranda.
The Boarded-Up House|Augusta Huiell Seaman
He saw a large building, in front of which were long, slender strips of shining steel.
Squinty the Comical Pig|Richard Barnum