Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - confront

(confronts, confronting, confronted) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If you are confronted with a problem, task, or difficulty, you have to deal with it. She was confronted with severe money problems... Ministers underestimated the magnitude of the task confronting them. = face VERB: be V-ed with/by n, V n 2. If you confront a difficult situation or issue, you accept the fact that it exists and try to deal with it. We are learning how to confront death... NATO countries have been forced to confront fundamental moral questions. = face VERB: V n, V n 3. If you are confronted by something that you find threatening or difficult to deal with, it is there in front of you. I was confronted with an array of knobs, levers, and switches. = face VERB: usu passive, be V-ed with/by n 4. If you confront someone, you stand or sit in front of them, especially when you are going to fight, argue, or compete with them. She pushed her way through the mob and confronted him face to face... The candidates confronted each other during a televised debate. VERB: V n, V n 5. If you confront someone with something, you present facts or evidence to them in order to accuse them of something. She had decided to confront Kathryn with what she had learnt... I could not bring myself to confront him about it... His confronting me forced me to search for the answers. VERB: V n with n, V n about n, V n