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

Yet giving him top dollar creates another problem: It limits what the front office can spend on the rest of a roster that Mayfield might not be quite good enough to carry.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

Ohtani said he’d leave the timing of his progression up to the front office.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

“And many front office people have mentioned to me the same phrase, which was, ‘Our guys were light on Brady last year,’ meaning they missed, he should have been drafted higher.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

The original plan was for the couple to handle the front office while two existing employees managed production.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026

But moments later, he bursts out of the front office, looking wild-eyed and disheveled.

From "Leah on the Offbeat" by Becky Albertalli