Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - front

(fronts, fronting, fronted) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. The front of something is the part of it that faces you, or that faces forward, or that you normally see or use. One man sat in an armchair, and the other sat on the front of the desk... Stand at the front of the line... Her cotton dress had ripped down the front. ? back N-COUNT: usu sing, oft the N of n 2. The front of a building is the side or part of it that faces the street. Attached to the front of the house, there was a large veranda. N-COUNT: usu sing, oft the N of n 3. A person’s or animal’s front is the part of their body between their head and their legs that is on the opposite side to their back. If you lie your baby on his front, he’ll lift his head and chest up. ? back N-SING: poss N 4. Front is used to refer to the side or part of something that is towards the front or nearest to the front. I went out there on the front porch... She was only six and still missing her front teeth... Children may be tempted to climb into the front seat while the car is in motion. ? back ADJ: ADJ n 5. The front page of a newspaper is the outside of the first page, where the main news stories are printed. The Guardian’s front page carries a photograph of the two foreign ministers... The violence in the Gaza Strip makes the front page of most of the newspapers. ADJ: ADJ n see also front-page 6. The front is a road next to the sea in a seaside town. (BRIT) Amy went out for a last walk along the sea front. = promenade N-SING: the N 7. In a war, the front is a line where two opposing armies are facing each other. Sonja’s husband is fighting at the front. N-COUNT: usu the N in sing see also front line 8. If you say that something is happening on a particular front, you mean that it is happening with regard to a particular situation or field of activity. We’re moving forward on a variety of fronts. N-COUNT 9. If someone puts on a particular kind of front, they pretend to have a particular quality. Michael kept up a brave front both to the world and in his home... N-COUNT: usu adj N 10. An organization or activity that is a front for one that is illegal or secret is used to hide it. ...a firm later identified by the police as a front for crime syndicates... = cover N-COUNT: usu N for n 11. In relation to the weather, a front is a line where a mass of cold air meets a mass of warm air. A very active cold front brought dramatic weather changes to Kansas on Wednesday. N-COUNT 12. A building or an area of land that fronts a particular place or fronts onto it is next to it and faces it. ...real estate, which includes undeveloped land fronting the city convention center... There are some delightful Victorian houses fronting onto the pavement. ...quaint cottages fronted by lawns and flowerbeds. = face VERB: V n, V onto n, V-ed 13. The person who fronts an organization is the most senior person in it. (BRIT; in AM, use head) He fronted a formidable band of fighters... The commission, fronted by Sir Isaac Hayatali, was set up in June 1992. = head VERB: V n, V-ed 14. If a person or thing is in front, they are ahead of others in a moving group, or further forward than someone or something else. Officers will crack down on lunatic motorists who speed or drive too close to the car in front... ‘What’s with this guy?’ demanded an American voice in the row in front. PHRASE 15. Someone who is in front in a competition or contest at a particular point is winning at that point. Richard Dunwoody is in front in the jockeys’ title race... Some preliminary polls show him out in front. = leading PHRASE: PHR after v, v-link PHR 16. If someone or something is in front of a particular thing, they are facing it, ahead of it, or close to the front part of it. She sat down in front of her dressing-table mirror to look at herself... Something darted out in front of my car, and my car hit it... A police car was parked in front of the house. PREP-PHRASE 17. If you do or say something in front of someone else, you do or say it when they are present. They never argued in front of their children... He has been brought up not to swear in front of women. PREP-PHRASE 18. On the home front or on the domestic front means with regard to your own country rather than foreign countries. (JOURNALISM) Its present economic ills on the home front are largely the result of overspending... On the domestic front, the president got his way with his budget proposals. PHRASE: PHR with cl