front

I UK [frʌnt] / US noun
Word forms "front":
singular front plural fronts
***

1) [countable, often singular] the surface of something that faces forwards

house/shop fronts (= the parts that face the road)

the front of something:

Attach a recent photograph to the front of your application.

on the front:

a book with a picture of a tiger on the front

down the front:

The dress had buttons down the front.

a) [countable] the part of your body that faces forwards, especially your chest

I always sleep on my front.

b) [singular/uncountable] the area outside the part of a building that faces forwards

Go round to the front and I'll let you in.

c) [countable] an outer wall of a large building that faces in a particular direction

the north/south/east/west front of something:

Monet's famous series of paintings of the west front of Rouen cathedral

2) the front the part of something that is nearest the direction it faces

The glasses are in the cabinet near the front.

in/at the front (of something):

Tom was sitting at the front of the bus.

the man at the front of the queue

If you can't see the blackboard, come and sit at the front.

He had signed his name in the front of the book.

3) [countable] a particular aspect of a situation

There's bad news on the job front – two factories are going to close.

His main problems were in maths and science, but he has made progress on both fronts.

4) [countable] an organization or activity that exists to hide an illegal or secret one

front for:

They kept a shop as a front for dealing in stolen goods.

5) [singular] behaviour that is not sincere because you want to hide your real feelings

He always pretended he didn't care but we knew it was just a front.

put on a front:

She's putting on a brave front, but she's really very worried.

6) [countable] a place where a large area of cold air meets a large area of warm air, often shown as a line on a weather map

a warm/cold front

7) [singular] a political organization that fights for or against something

the National Liberation Front

8) [countable] a front line in a war

9) [countable, usually singular] the area along the edge of the sea or a lake in a town

a walk along the front

See:

seafront

•

in (the) front — in the part of a car where the driver and the controls are

You can sit in the front if you want.

out (the) front — outside the part of a building that faces forwards

There seem to be some press photographers waiting out front.

- in front

- in front of someone

- in front of something

- out front

- out in front

See:

back to front, up front

II UK [frʌnt] / US adjective [only before noun] ***

1) at, in, or on the front of something

You can go and play in the front garden.

A tall woman in the front row was blocking my view.

Stephen was still sitting in the front seat of the car.

I've broken one of my front teeth.

front legs/paws

2) playing near the other team's goal and trying to score in a sport such as football

the front two/three:

The midfield players aren't giving enough support to the front two.

3) intended to hide an illegal or secret activity

Arms exports were conducted secretly using front companies.

4) linguistics a front vowel is made in the front part of your mouth

III UK [frʌnt] / US verb
Word forms "front":
present tense I/you/we/they front he/she/it fronts present participle fronting past tense fronted past participle fronted

1) [transitive] to be the leader or main representative of a group

a financial consortium fronted by Charles Villiers

a) to be the main singer or musician in a band

I'd love to front my own jazz band.

b) to be the main person who appears in a television programme and tells people what is happening in each part of the programme

What is it like to front such a popular TV show?

2)

a) [intransitive/transitive] if an area or building fronts something or fronts on or onto it, it has that thing at the front of it

The theatre is housed in a large building fronting Canning Street.

The estate fronts onto the bay.

b) [transitive] to be in front of something

A spacious forecourt fronts the handsome house.

Phrasal verbs:

- front for

- front up