storefront

[stawr-fruhnt, stohr-]

noun

1. the side of a store facing a street, usually containing display windows.

2. a store or other establishment that has frontage on a street or thoroughfare.

   After the fire the family took shelter temporarily in an abandoned storefront.

adjective

1. of or relating to the frontage of a store, especially the display windows.

   a storefront sign.

2. located or operating in a storelike area, room, or set of rooms fronting on a street.

   a storefront community center.

Word History and Origins

Origin of storefront¹

First recorded in 1935–40; store + front

Example Sentences

It’s a quiet crisis — one that surfaces every fall when the beaches clear and the storefronts board up.

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By the time I stepped into the brick storefront on the pop-up’s last day, the caps and essays were long gone, but the space was still crowded for a Tuesday afternoon.

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Leading guests through a darkened, windy downtown storefront, the show is a heavy nod to 1950 noir film “Sunset Boulevard” in the way it aims to explore old Hollywood.

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Chinatown’s Paper Plant Co. is her stationery outpost, made of two small storefronts that share a space with Thank You Coffee and boast outdoor seating.

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L.A. has thousands of houses of worship, including hundreds of storefront churches, according to the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture.

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