face
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: fās
ipa: /feɪs/
ipa: /fɛjs/
note: Fiji
ipa: /feːs/
rhymes: -eɪs
Forms: form: faces
form: facing
form: faced
form: faced
Etymology: Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-?
Late Latin faciēs
Late Latin facia
Old French facebor.
Middle English face
English face
From Middle English face, from Old French face, from Late Latin facia, from Latin faciēs (“form, appearance”). Doublet of facies. Displaced native onlete (“face, countenance, appearance”), anleth (“face”), from Old English anwlite, andwlita, compare German Antlitz; Old English ansīen (“face”), Middle English neb (“face, nose”) (from Old English nebb), Middle English ler, leor, leer (“face, cheek, countenance”) (from Old English hlēor), and non-native Middle English vis (“face, appearance, look”) (from Old French vis) and Middle English chere (“face”) from Old French chere.
In the sense of face as in reputation, influenced by Chinese 面子 (miànzi) or 臉／脸 (liǎn), both of which mean literally the front of the head and metaphorically one's public image. See lose face.
Senses: examples: text: Face the sun.
text: Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.
ref: 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
glosses: To position oneself or itself so as to have one's face closest to (something).
raw_tags: of a person or animal
examples: text: Turn the chair so it faces the table.
text: He gain'd alſo with his Forces that part of Britain which faces Ireland,
ref: 1670, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC, page 72:
glosses: To have its front closest to, or in the direction of (something else).
raw_tags: of an object
examples: text: The croupier delicately faced her other two cards with the tip of his spatula. A four! She had lost!
ref: 1963, Ian Fleming, On Her Majesty's Secret Service:
glosses: To cause (something) to turn or present a face or front, as in a particular direction.
examples: text: I've put out the stock and broken down the boxes, it's just facing left to do.
text: In my first job, I learned how to operate a till and to face the store to high standards.
topics: business
commerce
retail
glosses: To improve the display of stock by ensuring items aren't upside down or back to front and are pulled forwards.
examples: text: We are facing an uncertain future.
text: The railway is still vital to Jordan's export trade, but in spite of the poor quality of the road, diesel lorries are gradually robbing it of freight traffic, and anyone who can afford to fly does so rather than face the long desert journey by rail.
ref: 1956 March, R. C. Blaker, “The Hedjaz Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 167:
text: Ambassador Udina: The other species are scared. They've never faced anything like this before and they don't know what to do.
ref: 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:
glosses: To be presented or confronted with; to have in prospect.
examples: text: I'm going to have to face this sooner or later.
text: I'll face / This tempest, and deserve the name of king.
ref: 1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page number):
text: It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. It is a tax system that is pivotal in creating the increasing inequality that marks most advanced countries today […].
ref: 2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19:
text: According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.
ref: 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
text: Network Rail doesn't expect the line through Carmont to open for around a month, as it faces the mammoth task of recovering the two power cars and four coaches from ScotRail's wrecked train, repairing bridge 325, stabilising earthworks around the landslip, and replacing the track.
ref: 2020 August 26, “Network News: Mid-September before line reopens, says Network Rail”, in Rail, page 10:
text: I'm breaking down, breaking down at the thought of you
I keep breaking down, breaking down over you again
I can't face, can't face that you’re happier
And so, I'm stuck rotting six feet under
ref: 2022, Vane, “Six Feet Under”:
glosses: To deal with (a difficult situation or person); to accept (facts, reality, etc.) even when undesirable.
examples: text: The seats in the carriage faced backwards.
glosses: To have the front in a certain direction.
examples: text: Real Madrid face Juventus in the quarter-finals.
text: And a further boost to England's qualification prospects came after the final whistle when Wales recorded a 2-1 home win over group rivals Montenegro, who Capello's men face in their final qualifier.
ref: 2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC:
glosses: To have as an opponent.
examples: text: Willoughby comes in to bowl, and it's Hobson facing.
topics: ball-games
cricket
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To be the batsman on strike.
examples: text: Face not mee: thou haſt brau'd manie men, braue not me; I will neither bee fac'd nor brau'd.
ref: c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 224, column 2:
glosses: To confront impudently; to bully.
examples: text: a building faced with marble
text: These upper walls seem mainly to have been formed, not of sun- or fire-baked bricks, as at Gournia or Palaikastro, but of clay or rubble, coated with plaster or faced with gypsum slabs.
ref: 1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 7:
glosses: To cover in front, for ornament, protection, etc.; to put a facing upon.
examples: text: to face the front of a coat, or the bottom of a dress
glosses: To line near the edge, especially with a different material.
glosses: To cover with better, or better appearing, material than the mass consists of, for purpose of deception, as the surface of a box of tea, a barrel of sugar, etc.
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
glosses: To make the surface of (anything) flat or smooth; to dress the face of (a stone, a casting, etc.); especially, in turning, to shape or smooth the flat (transverse) surface of, as distinguished from the cylindrical (axial) surface.
Synonyms: sense: deal with
word: confront
sense: deal with
word: deal with
Derived terms: in-your-face
Related terms: sense: Terms related to face (verb)
word: face down
sense: Terms related to face (verb)
word: face facts
sense: Terms related to face (verb)
word: face the music
sense: Terms related to face (verb)
word: face to face
sense: Terms related to face (verb)
word: face up to
sense: Terms related to face (verb)
word: in your face