<B>front door,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the main entrance of a house or dwelling. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) the main approach to a place or objective. <BR> <I>Ex. ... Lanchow, an ancient city on the Silk Route around the Tibetan mountains into Russia and western Asia: classical China's "front door" (New Scientist).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) an open and aboveboard approach to any objective. <BR> <I>Ex. [He] is hoping to get by the back door what [he] failed to obtain through the front door of the House of Lords last year (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="fronted">
<B>fronted, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having a front; formed with a front. </DL>
<A NAME="frontend">
<B>front-end, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> provided or paid in advance, especially to start a project. <BR> <I>Ex. The report advocates front-end support which would involve large payments for R & D at the start (New Scientist).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="frontendload">
<B>front-end load,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the sales and commission charges that make up part of the early payments of an investor or buyer under certain long-term investment or purchasing plans. </DL>
<A NAME="frontenis">
<B>frontenis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a Latin-American ball game resembling handball and consisting essentially of jai alai or pelota played with tennis rackets. </DL>
<A NAME="fronter">
<B>fronter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) a member of a front group. <BR> <I>Ex. a Red fronter.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="frontfoot">
<B>front foot,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a foot in length along the front of a lot. </DL>
<A NAME="frontgroup">
<B>front group,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an organization that serves as a cover for illegal activities; front. <BR> <I>Ex. The inquiries relate to Communist ... front groups and [their] activities (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="frontier">
<B>frontier, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the last edge of settled country, where the wilds begin; border of inhabited regions. <BR> <I>Ex. James Bowie ... pushed west with the widening frontier to the plains of Texas (Saturday Review).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the part of one country that touches the edge of another; boundary line between two countries; border. <BR> <I>Ex. These four Powers are guarantors of the 1942 Ecuador-Peru treaty, which was intended to settle the long-standing quarrel over the Peru frontier with Ecuador (London Times).</I> (SYN) boundary. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) an uncertain or undeveloped region. <BR> <I>Ex. to explore the frontiers of science.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Obsolete.) a fortress; border town. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or on the frontier. <BR> <I>Ex. a frontier post.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="frontierpants">
<B>frontier pants</B> or <B>trousers,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) close-fitting, reinforced trousers of a heavy material, worn especially in the western United States. </DL>
<A NAME="frontiersman">
<B>frontiersman, </B>noun, pl. <B>-men.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a man who lives on the frontier. <BR> <I>Ex. As the frontiersmen pushed west into the new land, Baptist preachers were never far behind them (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="frontispiece">
<B>frontispiece, </B>noun, verb, <B>-pieced,</B> <B>-piecing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a picture facing the title page of a book or of a division of a book. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Architecture.) <DD><B> a. </B>the main part or the decorated entrance of a building. <DD><B> b. </B>a pediment over a door, window, gate, or vent. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Obsolete.) the title page or first page of a book. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to furnish (a book) with a frontispiece. <DD><B> 2. </B>to represent on a frontispiece. <DD><B> 3. </B>to provide as a frontispiece. </DL>
<A NAME="frontlash">
<B>frontlash, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) a reaction that offsets or reverses an unfavorable reaction. </DL>
<A NAME="frontless">
<B>frontless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> without a front. </DL>
<A NAME="frontlet">
<B>frontlet, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a band or ornament worn on the forehead. <DD><B> 2. </B>a phylactery bound on the forehead during prayer. <DD><B> 3. </B>the forehead of an animal. <DD><B> 4. </B>the forehead of a bird when of a different color or texture of plumage. </DL>
<A NAME="frontline">
<B>front line,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the most advanced line occupied by troops, nearest to enemy positions. </DL>
<A NAME="frontline">
<B>front-line, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of or at the front line. <BR> <I>Ex. The general sent [the band] into the nearby combat areas, in a two-and-a-half-ton truck, to play for the front-line troops (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>of or having to do with any country which borders on or is closest to an enemy country or area of conflict. <BR> <I>Ex. Iraq still seemed caught between feeling left out of the ranks of "front-line" states with Israel and being deeply involved in Gulf affairs (Manchester Guardian).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="frontman">
<B>front man,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who publicly represents a group or organization. <BR> <I>Ex. Their party began to go places only after it found a glamorous front man (Time).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who fronts for another or others. </DL>
<A NAME="frontmatter">
<B>front matter,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Printing.) those pages that precede the main text in a book, including the title page, preface, and table of contents. </DL>
<A NAME="frontoffice">
<B>front-office, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> executive; administrative. <BR> <I>Ex. Professionally they are hamstrung by front-office pressure and fear of community wrath (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="frontogenesis">
<B>frontogenesis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Meteorology.) the formation of a front, as by the convergence of dissimilar air masses. </DL>
<A NAME="frontolysis">
<B>frontolysis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Meteorology.) the dissolution of a front, as by the divergence or mingling of dissimilar air masses. </DL>
<A NAME="fronton">
<B>fronton, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a court for jai alai or pelota. <DD><B> 2. </B>a building wherer jai alai games are played </DL>
<A NAME="frontpage">
<B>front-page, </B>adjective, verb, <B>-paged,</B> <B>-paging.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> on or suitable for the front page of a newspaper; important. <BR> <I>Ex. front-page news.</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to put on the front page; emphasize. </DL>
<A NAME="frontporchcampaign">
<B>front-porch campaign,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a presidential election campaign in which a candidate makes all his political speeches in his home district instead of engaging in a speaking tour across the country. <BR> <I>Ex. William McKinley in 1896 and 1900 and Warren G. Harding in 1920 conducted front-porch campaigns.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="frontquarter">
<B>front quarter,</B> =forequarter.</DL>
<A NAME="frontrank">
<B>front-rank, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of the first or foremost rank; first-class. <BR> <I>Ex. Ideally, no doubt, young conductors should learn their jobs on fully professional orchestras, though not necessarily front-rank ones (London Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="frontroom">
<B>front room,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> the parlor or living room of a house. </DL>
<A NAME="frontrunner">
<B>front-runner, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a horse, not necessarily the eventual winner, that leads or takes the lead in a race. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) the leading contender at a given moment in any contest. <BR> <I>Ex. A dark horse might win the nomination if the two front-runners should trip each other.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="frontrunning">
<B>front-running, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> leading in a race or contest. </DL>
<A NAME="frontsteerer">
<B>front-steerer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an iceboat steered by the runner at the front. </DL>
<A NAME="frontward">
<B>frontward, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> toward or near the front. </DL>
<A NAME="frontwards">
<B>frontwards, </B>adverb. =frontward.</DL>
<A NAME="frontwheeldrive">
<B>front-wheel drive,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a system in which power is transmitted to the front wheels of a motor vehicle. </DL>
<B>frosh, </B>noun, pl. <B>frosh.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) a freshman at a college or school. </DL>
<A NAME="frost">
<B>frost, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a freezing condition; very cold weather; temperature below the point at which water freezes. <BR> <I>Ex. Frost came early last winter. Frosts occur most readily in low places, especially if there is no outlet (Thomas A. Blair).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the act or process of becoming frozen. <BR> <I>Ex. If the secret ministry of frost Shall hang them in silent icicles (Samuel Taylor Coleridge).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>moisture frozen on or in a surface; feathery crystals of ice formed when water vapor in the air condenses at a temperature below freezing; white frost; hoarfrost. <BR> <I>Ex. frost on windows. On cold fall mornings, there was frost on the grass. The only difference between dew and frost is that the frost occurs at sub-freezing temperatures (Neuberger and Stephens).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) coldness of manner or feeling; frigidity. <BR> <I>Ex. One of those moments of intense feeling when the frost of the Scottish people melts like a snow wreath (Scott).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Slang.) a failure; flop. <BR> <I>Ex. One small meeting can be a frost and another a crashing success (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) a falling off of, or coolness in, friendship; estrangement. <BR> <I>Ex. A slight frost has since settled over Belgrade's friendship with Ankara (New York Times).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to cover with frost. <BR> <I>Ex. Delicate traceries frosted the windowpanes.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to cover with anything that suggests frost. <BR> <I>Ex. The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and beaten whites of eggs.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to give a frostlike surface to (glass or metal). <DD><B> 4. </B>to kill or injure by frost or freezing. <BR> <I>Ex. The drop in temperature frosted the tomato plants.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to freeze; become covered with frost. adj. <B>frostless.</B> adj. <B>frostlike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="frostbelt">
<B>Frost Belt</B> or <B>Frostbelt, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) <DD><B> 1. </B>the northern region of the United States extending east to west that regularly has frost in colder seasons. <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=Snowbelt </B>(def. 2a). </DL>
