<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> <B>=forequarter.</B></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>
<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>
<A NAME="frostbite">
<B>frostbite, </B>noun, verb, <B>-bit,</B> <B>-bitten,</B> <B>-biting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> an injury to a part of the body caused by exposure to severe cold. Frostbite is characterized by severe burning pain, the rupturing of blood vessels, and gangrene. <BR> <I>Ex. Frostbite may, however, cause local death, so that fingers and toes and ears swell, then blacken and shrivel and eventually drop off (New Scientist).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to injure (a part of the body) by exposure to frost; harm by severe cold. <BR> <I>Ex. The trapper's feet were frostbitten when he was lost in the arctic snow.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to take part in a frostbite race. </DL>
<B>frostbiter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a sailboat used in frostbiting. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person sailing such a boat. </DL>
<A NAME="frostbiterace">
<B>frostbite race</B> or <B>regatta,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) a race between sailboats in the winter months. </DL>
<A NAME="frostbiting">
<B>frostbiting, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) the sport of sailing or racing a sailboat in the winter months. </DL>
<A NAME="frostbitten">
<B>frostbitten, </B>adjective, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>injured by severe cold. <BR> <I>Ex. frostbitten fingers.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>coldly impassive; having an ice-cold or frigid personality. <DD><I>verb </I> the past participle of <B>frostbite.</B> <BR> <I>Ex. My ears were frostbitten.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="frostbound">
<B>frostbound, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>covered with frost; in a frozen condition. <BR> <I>Ex. The birds are much more cheerful and vocal than they were when the countryside was frostbound (Manchester Guardian).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) lacking in warmth; frigid. <BR> <I>Ex. Relations with France seemed as frostbound as ever (Annual Register of World Events).</I> </DL>
