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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

Suzanne Badger who works as the front of house manager at the Pickled Plum pub in Pershore, said people were "walking in off the street, melting".

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

When the cow died, Granma published her obituary on its front page, and a marble statue of her was erected.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

This is a guy who stands up in front of the room and leads.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

He last appeared in public at a May 1 event in front of the US embassy in Havana, where he appeared frail, and was shown on state television at events in June.

From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026

She’s standing in front of a green pickup truck, grinning from ear to ear.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

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

"He led from the front. He had a tough week and he led exceptionally well and the players got behind him as well," said Ospreys head coach Mark Jones.

From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026

"Massive. Newcastle is an incredible team, awesome in physicality and speed they have up front. Physicality in the middle. Really tough but the team was unbelievable," he said.

From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026

“That’s splendid. You rarely find any one any good this close to the front. This is close to the front, isn’t it?”

From "A Farewell To Arms" by Ernest Hemingway

Low pressure bringing rain-bearing weather fronts will move in across Wales and southern England and could bring a spell of rain for some.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

There, her brain still working on what she was doing in her office, she’ll lose herself on multiple fronts as she wrestles with a scene.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

First, so much has happened since then on other Middle East war fronts.

From Slate ● Aug. 3, 2026

Greece on Sunday faced multiple fronts and a growing damage toll with wildfires believed to have devastated swathes of forest and agricultural land, and the prime minister warning of "extremely difficult" days ahead.

From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026

Set against the dull, poster-muffled shop fronts around them, Fred and George’s windows hit the eye like a firework display.

From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling

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

Well into her 80s, she made several appearances alongside Alan Titchmarsh, on the gardener's Love Your Weekend series, and fronted a series about saving country houses for Channel Four.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 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

Uchiyama, who has interpreted for Japanese directors such as Ryusuke Hamaguchi, used to think she had stage fright — even though she once fronted a punk band.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2026

The West End, a huge building of two stories, fronted with gnarled poplars, divided the play yards called girlside and boyside.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

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

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

This includes Dolan’s fronting of an embarrassing blues-rock band, often while sporting a fedora, and he inflicts his music on audiences by installing himself as the opener for acts like the Eagles.

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

A surfer who used a floating technique to survive after he and his brother got caught in a rip current is fronting a national safety campaign in the hope of saving lives.

From BBC ● May 19, 2026

I don't know if I would've been fronting like them, but I get it.

From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds

Related Words

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