Word: front Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English front, frunt, frount, from Old French front, frunt, from Latin frōns, frontem (“forehead”). Doublet of frons. Pronunciation: /fɹʌnt/, /fɹɐnt/, /fɹʊnt/ 1. The foremost side of something or the end that faces the direction it normally moves. Labels: countable, uncountable 2. The side of a building with the main entrance. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path[…]. It twisted and turned,[…]and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn. And, back of the lawn, was a big, old-fashioned house, with piazzas stretching in front of it, and all blazing with lights. 3. A field of activity. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Becoming more aware of the progress that scientists have made on behavioral fronts can reduce the risk that other natural scientists will resort to mystical agential accounts when they exceed the limits of their own disciplinary training. 4. A person or institution acting as the public face of some other, covert group. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: Near-synonyms: frontperson, frontman, front man Example: Officially it's a dry-cleaning shop, but everyone knows it's a front for the mafia. 5. The interface or transition zone between two airmasses of different density, often resulting in precipitation. Since the temperature distribution is the most important regulator of atmospheric density, a front almost invariably separates airmasses of different temperature. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: We need to take the clothes off the line. The news reported a front is coming in from the east, and we can expect heavy rain and maybe hail. 6. An area where armies are engaged in conflict, especially the line of contact. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. The lateral space occupied by an element measured from the extremity of one flank to the extremity of the other flank. Labels: countable, uncountable 8. The direction of the enemy. Labels: countable, uncountable 9. When a combat situation does not exist or is not assumed, the direction toward which the command is faced. Labels: countable, uncountable 10. A major military subdivision of the Soviet Army. Labels: countable, historical, uncountable 11. Cheek; boldness; impudence. Labels: countable, dated, uncountable 12. A woman's breast. Labels: countable, dated, euphemistic, in-plural, uncountable Example: […] there was one bare breast sticking out, the tip of it disappearing into Enid's father's mouth. She had told her mother about this in perfect certainty that she had seen it. She said, "One of her fronts was stuck in Daddy's mouth." Example: She thought—imagined, really—that her, well, that her fronts were too big. She grew up, you see, in the flapper era, when it was fashionable for women to have very flat fronts. 13. An act, show, façade, persona: an intentional and false impression of oneself. Labels: countable, informal, uncountable Example: He says he likes hip-hop, but I think it's just a front. Example: You don't need to put on a front. Just be yourself. 14. That which covers the foremost part of the head: a front piece of false hair worn by women. Labels: countable, historical, uncountable Example: like any plain Miss Smith's, who wears a front 15. The most conspicuous part. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: the very head and front of my offending 16. The beginning. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: summer's front Example: So the faulty bridge was moved to the front of the song, creating in the process one of the most striking opening moments in Beatles music. 17. A seafront or coastal promenade. Labels: UK, countable, uncountable 18. The forehead or brow, the part of the face above the eyes; sometimes, also, the whole face. Labels: countable, obsolete, uncountable Example: Bless'd with his father's front, his mother's tongue. Example: Grim-visaged war hath smoothed his wrinkled front. 19. The bellhop whose turn it is to answer a client's call, which is often the word "front" used as an exclamation. Labels: countable, dated, slang, uncountable 20. A grill (jewellery worn on front teeth). Labels: countable, in-plural, slang, uncountable Example: I'm saying, man, them fronts? That car? Who is you, Chiron?