n. [ F. frant forehead, L. frons, frontis; perh. akin to E. brow. ] 1. The forehead or brow, the part of the face above the eyes; sometimes, also, the whole face. [ 1913 Webster ] Bless'd with his father's front, his mother's tongue. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ] Grim-visaged war hath smoothed his wrinkled front. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] His front yet threatens, and his frowns command. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. The forehead, countenance, or personal presence, as expressive of character or temper, and especially, of boldness of disposition, sometimes of impudence; seeming; as, a bold front; a hardened front; hence, an attitude and demeanor intended to represent one's feelings, even if not actually felt; as, to put on a good front. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ] With smiling fronts encountering. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] The inhabitants showed a bold front. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ] 3. The part or surface of anything which seems to look out, or to be directed forward; the fore or forward part; the foremost rank; the van; -- the opposite to back or rear; as, the front of a house; the front of an army. [ 1913 Webster ] Had he his hurts before?
Ay, on the front. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] 4. A position directly before the face of a person, or before the foremost part of a thing; as, in front of un person, of the troops, or of a house. [ 1913 Webster ] 5. The most conspicuous part. [ 1913 Webster ] The very head and front of my offending. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] 6. That which covers the foremost part of the head: a front piece of false hair worn by women. [ 1913 Webster ] Like any plain Miss Smith's, who wears s front. Mrs. Browning. [ 1913 Webster ] 7. The beginning. “Summer's front.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ] 8. (Fort.) All the works along one side of the polygon inclosing the site which is fortified. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ] 9. (Phon.) The middle of the upper part of the tongue, -- the part of the tongue which is more or less raised toward the palate in the pronunciation of certain sounds, as the vowel i in machine, e in bed, and consonant y in you. See Guide to Pronunciation, §10. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ] 10. The call boy whose turn it is to answer the call, which is often the word “front, ” used as an exclamation. [ Hotel Cant ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
Bastioned front (Mil.), a curtain connerting two half bastions. --
Front door, the door in the front wall of a building, usually the principal entrance. --
Front of fortification, the works constructed upon any one side of a polygon. Farrow. --
Front of operations, all that part of the field of operations in front of the successive positions occupied by the army as it moves forward. Farrow. --
To come to the front, to attain prominence or leadership. [ 1913 Webster ]
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