front v.1
1. to confront.
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Arden of Feversham line 1252: For with the tyde my M. will away. Where you may front him well on Raynum downe, A place well fitting such a strategeme. | |
| Norfolk Drollery 15: This bold, and careless Amazon, / Fronted, and fir’d on every one. | |
| Careless Husband V v: I’ll throw this Vizor of my Patience off: / Now wake him in his Guilt / And barefac’d front him with my Wrongs. | |
| Brave Irishman I ii: Do you mean to front me, you French boogre? – Eh. | |
| (con. 1840s–50s) London Labour and London Poor IV 417/2: The first, or soldier proper, has all the evidence of drill and barrack life about him; the eye that always ‘fronts’ the person he addresses. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Smith’s Wkly (Sydney) 11 Aug. 15/4: I fronts ’im. ‘Dook me, brother,’ ses I. ‘Didn’t I meet you at Dubbo?’. | |
| Sun (Sydney) 10 Nov. 2/1: ‘I’ve got to front eight charges meself to-day’ . | |
| Till We Have Faces 147: However things might go, whatever the price, by her death or mine or a thousand deaths, by fronting the gods ‘beard to beard’ as the soldiers say. | |
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | Current Sl. III:3. | |
| Signs of Crime 184: Front, to To confront; to face in challenge. | |
| Doing Time app. C 225: If you know someone’s been saying stupid things you front him and put the record straight. | |
| (con. 1964-65) Sex and Thugs and Rock ’n’ Roll 137: ‘When I went back to work and had some donero again, I fronted her about it’. | |
| Da Bomb 🌐 11: Front: [...] 3. From confront: to acknowledge; to encounter; to engage. | |
| Outlaws (ms.) 33: They don’t want to risk fronting him neither, just in case, even though there’s loads of them. | |
![[NZ]](/static/img/flags/nz.png "New Zealand") | Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 74/2: front v. 1 (also front up) to confront (someone). | |
| Pigeon English 65: Don’t be fronting me you little bitch, I’ll batter you. | |
| Headland [ebook] Murdoch had fronted enough coppers in his life not to be to be intimidated by the Detective Constable’s scowls. | |
| ‘Paradise’ in Broken 256: ‘If these guys fronted Chon, he wouldn’t talk nice or try to defuse the situation’. |
2. (UK Und.) of a pickpocket team, to distract a victim’s attention while the actual theft is carried out.
| Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 153/2: One of us was to ‘front’ her and prevent her leaving the carriage until she had left behind her darling ‘soot-bag’. | |
| Child of the Jago (1982) 155: It commonly took three men to secure a single watch in the open street — one to ‘front’, one to snatch, and a third to take from the snatcher. | |
| Smith’s Wkly (Sydney) 2 Dec. 18/3: I got the ‘Hound’ to ‘front’ me, and ‘Whizz!’ off went the copper's roll. |
3. (Aus./US) in weak use of sense 1, to hand over information; to betray.
| Underdog 113: ‘[S]omebody fronted, Dan. Must have.’ ‘No,’ said Dan. ‘Not then. Were pretty careless then. It just got around. | |
| Lairs, Urgers & Coat-Tuggers 277: ‘I was,’ said Johnny Tapp, ‘fair dinkum breaking out in boils about fronting Rosemary with that kind of kleiner news.’. |
4. (Aus.) to appear in front of (often a court).
| Sydney Morn. Herald 11 Dec. 7/3: When he appears before his commanding officer in answer to a charge he is ‘heeled up to front the Old Man’. | |
 | ‘I’ve Been Around’ 25 Feb. [synd. col.] Lucky pleaded for an opportunity to ‘front’ for the band. | |
| in Sun. Herald (Sydney) 8 June 9/2: Here are a few of the expressions used among criminals to describe events possibly occurring when they are called on to ‘front’ (appear before) a magistrate. | |
| Sydney Morning Herald 20 May 2: So the delo fronted him and said ‘If we don’t get gloves we’ll walk off!’ [GAW4]. | |
| He who Shoots Last 3: ‘Don’t mind a bit of corn myself. Look like doin a drag wen I front tomorrow,’ was the boastful reply. | |
| Bulletin (Sydney) 26 Apr. 44: Like me last year. I fronted [i.e. in court] on a loiter. Was the hottest thing since they give it to Christ. Crucified me – or tried to. | |
| Real Thing 60: You’ll front court when it says, then it’s up to the beak. | |
| Aus. Prison Sl. Gloss. 🌐 Front. 1. To appear before some legal body. As in ‘to front the court’ or ‘to front the superintendent’. | |
| Leaving Bondi (2013) [ebook] ‘And when you front on Monday,’ said Detective Tait, ‘we’ll oppose bail’. | |
| Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 74/2: front v. 1 (also front up) to appear. | |
| More You Bet 43: This bookie was brought before the stewards or [...] ‘fronted the stewards’ the following week. |
5. (also front up) to approach.
| I’m a Jack, All Right 24: A few seamen were fronting the [bar] counter. | |
| Rooted I iii: Hey, do you remember the time he got pissed out of his mind and fronted up to this old duck and asked her for a root? It was Davo’s mother! | |
| You Flash Bastard 45: Sneed had never had any problem pulling women; two glances his way was sufficient for him to front them. | |
| You Wouldn’t Be Dead for Quids (1989) 184: I’ll front the little blonde [...] just give us a back-up and talk to the big one for a while. | |
| Davo’s Little Something 48: She would have rubbished Roger bloody Moore if he’d fronted her. | |
![[Scot]](/static/img/flags/sco.png "Scotland") | Be My Enemy 98: It was hard to imagine him even fronting up at the off-license. | |
| Tales of the Honey Badger [ebook] [E]very bugger who has ever fronted up at my house has seemingly done so barefoot. |
6. (US black/campus/prison, also front in, front on) to disrespect, to snub.
| Get Your Ass in the Water (1974) 97: Don’t front me with that shit because it’s not anywhere, / and this is Joe the Grinder and damn that square. | |
| Central Sl. 23: front To subject to ridicule in front of others [...] ‘Don’t be frontin’ me in the hood man, there’ll be payback man.’. | |
| Campus Sl. Nov. 3: front – put on airs, ignore. ‘Don’t be fronting on me just because you’re with your friends.’. | |
| White Boy Shuffle 199: Now I’m not going to front. | |
| Da Bomb 🌐 11: Front: [...] 2. To disrespect. Don’t front the teacher like that in class; challenge him later. | |
| Austin American-Statesman (TX) 14 Oct. 9/4: Texas Prison Gangs Slang [...] Front-In: To talk about, embarrass someone. | |
| in Getting Played 101: ‘Don’t be frontin’ now’. | |
| ? (Pronounced Que) [ebook] ‘Yeah, I’m here,’ he said, fronting like he was swoll. | |
| ‘Slick Rick’ 🎵 Nigga, why you fronting? Why you lying in The Mirror / Like you should've been the one when you know you never was? | |
| Lives Laid Away [ebook] ‘I says, “ey, man, I ain’t crowdin’ you. Whatchu frontin’ on me for?”’. |
7. (Aus.) [other than in disciplinary context] to appear, to be present.
| Fatty 105: He’d call runs at two in the afternoon or midday and everyone had to front. |
In phrases
1. to betray, to inform on.
| Homeboy 44: No matter that Rooski didn’t mean to front off the other cons. |
2. to confide in.
| Homeboy 151: You dont front off friends with secrets they dont need to know. |
3. to confront.
| Secrets of Harry Bright (1986) 194: Then I fronted them off about the Watson kid. I interrogated em one by one. | |
| Prison Sl. 93: Front Off To accuse someone. |
4. to put someone else in trouble.
| (con. 1998–2000) You Got Nothing Coming 71: Hey, aren’t you the one who likes to lecture me about not fronting people off. How righteous cons don’t put their cellies out on Front Street. |
see sense 5 above.
(orig. US black) to reveal oneself, one’s motives, actions etc.
| Scene (1996) 68: Why me? Why do I have to front myself off when it’s my idea? |
1. to reveal information about another person that puts that person in an embarrassing or otherwise difficult position.
| Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.]. |
2. to show off in front of someone, to outdo.
| Runnin’ Down Some Lines. |
1. (Aus./N.Z. Und.) to appear, esp. in court.
| ‘Whisper All Aussie Dict.’ in Kings Cross Whisper (Sydney) xxxiv 4/5: front up: Go to court, more broadly to appear anywhere. | |
| (con. 1941) Gunner 101: ‘Sarn’t Lewis, I’m ordering you to keep quiet. If you don’t I’ll charge you with disobeying an order in the face of the enemy.’ ‘And I’ll be glad to front up – if we ever get off this bloody island!’. | |
| While We Have Prisons 96: Front up meet or appear before the parole board superintendent, etc [DNZE]. | |
| Big Huey 199: He was screaming blue murder, but no screws fronted up. They didn’t want to know about it. | |
| Bug (Aus.) Apr. 🌐 For fuck’s sake, who gives a toss what these blokes are on at the weekends, long as they front up and play to their ability. | |
| Thrill City [ebook] I figured if I fronted up [...] I’d have fulfilled my part of the bargain. | |
| Kill Shot [ebook] [He] put the hard word on his pizza cooks, counter staff and delivery boys to front up. |
2. (Aus.) to appear in person, to confront.
| Cherry Pie [ebook] I had the feeling he wouldn’t be quite so eager to speak to me and I’d be better off fronting up. Harder for people to weasel out of talking when you’re face to face. |
3. see sense 4 above.