Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Face

Face

(fās)
,
Noun.
[F., from L.
facies
form, shape, face, perh. from
facere
to make (see
Fact
); or perh. orig. meaning
appearance
, and from a root meaning
to shine
, and akin to E.
fancy
. Cf.
Facetious
.]
1.
The exterior form or appearance of anything; that part which presents itself to the view; especially, the front or upper part or surface; that which particularly offers itself to the view of a spectator.
A mist . . . watered the whole
face
of the ground.
Gen. ii. 6.
Lake Leman wooes me with its crystal
face
.
Byron.
2.
That part of a body, having several sides, which may be seen from one point, or which is presented toward a certain direction; one of the bounding planes of a solid;
as, a cube has six
faces
.
3.
(Mach.)
(a)
The principal dressed surface of a plate, disk, or pulley; the principal flat surface of a part or object.
(b)
That part of the acting surface of a cog in a cog wheel, which projects beyond the pitch line.
(c)
The width of a pulley, or the length of a cog from end to end;
as, a pulley or cog wheel of ten inches
face
.
4.
(Print.)
(a)
The upper surface, or the character upon the surface, of a type, plate, etc.
(b)
The style or cut of a type or font of type.
5.
Outside appearance; surface show; look; external aspect, whether natural, assumed, or acquired.
To set a
face
upon their own malignant design.
Milton.
This would produce a new
face
of things in Europe.
Addison.
We wear a
face
of joy, because
We have been glad of yore.
Wordsworth.
6.
That part of the head, esp. of man, in which the eyes, cheeks, nose, and mouth are situated; visage; countenance.
In the sweat of thy
face
shalt thou eat bread.
Gen. iii. 19.
7.
Cast of features; expression of countenance; look; air; appearance.
We set the best
face
on it we could.
Dryden.
8.
(Astrol.)
Ten degrees in extent of a sign of the zodiac.
Chaucer.
9.
Maintenance of the countenance free from abashment or confusion; confidence; boldness; shamelessness; effrontery.
This is the man that has the
face
to charge others with false citations.
Tillotson.
10.
Presence; sight; front; as in the phrases, before the face of, in the immediate presence of; in the face of, before, in, or against the front of;
as, to fly
in the face of
danger
; to the face of, directly to; from the face of, from the presence of.
11.
Mode of regard, whether favorable or unfavorable; favor or anger; mostly in Scriptural phrases.
The Lord make his
face
to shine upon thee.
Num. vi. 25.
My
face
[favor] will I turn also from them.
Ezek. vii. 22.
12.
(Mining)
The end or wall of the tunnel, drift, or excavation, at which work is progressing or was last done.
13.
(Com.)
The exact amount expressed on a bill, note, bond, or other mercantile paper, without any addition for interest or reduction for discount; most commonly called
face value
.
McElrath.
☞ Face is used either adjectively or as part of a compound; as, face guard or face-guard; face cloth; face plan or face-plan; face hammer.
Face ague
(Med.)
,
a form of neuralgia, characterized by acute lancinating pains returning at intervals, and by twinges in certain parts of the face, producing convulsive twitches in the corresponding muscles; – called also
tic douloureux
.
–
Face card
,
one of a pack of playing cards on which a human face is represented; the king, queen, or jack.
–
Face cloth
,
a cloth laid over the face of a corpse.
–
Face guard
,
a mask with windows for the eyes, worn by workman exposed to great heat, or to flying particles of metal, stone, etc., as in glass works, foundries, etc.
–
Face hammer
,
a hammer having a flat face.
–
Face joint
(Arch.)
,
a joint in the face of a wall or other structure.
–
Face mite
(Zool.)
,
a small, elongated mite (
Demdex folliculorum
), parasitic in the hair follicles of the face.
–
Face mold
,
the templet or pattern by which carpenters, etc., outline the forms which are to be cut out from boards, sheet metal, etc.
–
Face plate
.
(a)
(Turning)
A plate attached to the spindle of a lathe, to which the work to be turned may be attached.
(b)
A covering plate for an object, to receive wear or shock.
(c)
A true plane for testing a dressed surface.
Knight.
–
Face wheel
.
(Mach.)
(a)
A crown wheel.
(b)
A wheel whose disk face is adapted for grinding and polishing; a lap.
–
face value
the value written on a financial instrument; same as
face{13}
. Also used metaphorically, to mean
apparent value
;
as, to take his statemnet at its
face value
.
Cylinder face
(Steam Engine)
,
the flat part of a steam cylinder on which a slide valve moves.
–
Face of an anvil
,
its flat upper surface.
–
Face of a bastion
(Fort.)
,
the part between the salient and the shoulder angle.
–
Face of coal
(Mining)
,
the principal cleavage plane, at right angles to the stratification.
–
Face of a gun
,
the surface of metal at the muzzle.
–
Face of a place
(Fort.)
,
the front comprehended between the flanked angles of two neighboring bastions.
Wilhelm.
–
Face of a square
(Mil.)
,
one of the sides of a battalion when formed in a square.
–
Face of a
watch, clock, compass, card etc.
,
the dial or graduated surface on which a pointer indicates the time of day, point of the compass, etc.
–
Face to face
.
(a)
In the presence of each other;
as, to bring the accuser and the accused
face to face
.
(b)
Without the interposition of any body or substance.
“Now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face.” 1
Cor. xiii. 12.
(c)
With the faces or finished surfaces turned inward or toward one another; vis à vis; – opposed to
back to back
.
–
To fly in the face of
,
to defy; to brave; to withstand.
–
To make a face
,
to distort the countenance; to make a grimace; – often expressing dislike, annoyance, or disagreement.
Shak.

Face

(fās)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Faced
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Facing
.]
1.
To meet in front; to oppose with firmness; to resist, or to meet for the purpose of stopping or opposing; to confront; to encounter;
as, to
face
an enemy in the field of battle
.
I’ll
face

This tempest, and deserve the name of king.
Dryden.
2.
To Confront impudently; to bully.
I will neither be
faced
nor braved.
Shakespeare
3.
To stand opposite to; to stand with the face or front toward; to front upon;
as, the apartments of the general
faced
the park; some of the seats on the train
faced
backward
.
He gained also with his forces that part of Britain which
faces
Ireland.
Milton.
4.
To cover in front, for ornament, protection, etc.; to put a facing upon;
as, a building
faced
with marble
.
5.
To line near the edge, esp. with a different material;
as, to
face
the front of a coat, or the bottom of a dress
.
6.
To cover with better, or better appearing, material than the mass consists of, for purpose of deception, as the surface of a box of tea, a barrel of sugar, etc.
7.
(Mach.)
To make the surface of (anything) flat or smooth; to dress the face of (a stone, a casting, etc.); esp., in turning, to shape or smooth the flat surface of, as distinguished from the cylindrical surface.
8.
To cause to turn or present a face or front, as in a particular direction.

Face

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To carry a false appearance; to play the hypocrite.
“To lie, to face, to forge.”
Spenser.
2.
To turn the face;
as, to
face
to the right or left
.
Face
about, man; a soldier, and afraid!
Dryden.
3.
To present a face or front.

Webster 1828 Edition

Face

FACE

,
Noun.
[L., to make.]
1.
In a general sense, the surface of a thing, or the side which presents itself to the view of a spectator; as the face of the earth; the face of the waters.
2.
A part of the surface of a thing; or the plane surface of a solid. Thus, a cube or die has six faces an octahedron has eight faces.
3.
The surface of the fore part of an animals head, particularly of the human head; the visage.
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. Genesis 3.
Joseph bowed himself with his face to the earth. Genesis 48.
4.
Countenance; cast of features; look; air of the face.
We set the best face on it we could.
5.
The front of a thing; the forepart; the flat surface that presents itself first to view; as the face of a house. Ezekiel 41.
6.
Visible state; appearance.
This would produce a new face of things in Europe.
7.
Appearance; look.
Nor heaven, nor sea, their former face retained.
His dialogue has the face of probability.
8.
State of confrontation. The witnesses were presented face to face.
9.
Confidence; boldness; impudence; a bold front.
He has the face to charge others with false citations.
10.
Presence; sight; as in the phrases, before the face, in the face, to the face, from the face.
11.
The person.
I had not thought to see thy face. Genesis 48.
12.
In scripture, face is used for anger or favor.
Hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne. Revelations 6.
Make thy face to shine on thy servant. Psalm 31.
How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? Psalm 8.
Hence, to seek the face, that is, to pray to, to seek the favor of.
To set the face against, is to oppose.
To accept ones face, is to show him favor or grant his request. So, to entreat the face, is to ask favor; but these phrases are nearly obsolete.
13.
A distorted form of the face; as in the phrase, to make faces, or to make wry faces.
Face to face
1.
When both parties are present; as, to have accusers face to face. Acts 25.
2.
Nakedly; without the interposition of any other body.
Now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face. 1 Corinthians 13.

Definition 2024

face

face

See also: fáce

English

Noun

face ‎(plural faces)

  1. (anatomy) The front part of the head, featuring the eyes, nose, and mouth and the surrounding area.
    She has a pretty face.‎
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 10, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      It was a joy to snatch some brief respite, and find himself in the rectory drawing–room. Listening here was as pleasant as talking; just to watch was pleasant. The young priests who lived here wore cassocks and birettas; their faces were fine and mild, yet really strong, like the rector's face; and in their intercourse with him and his wife they seemed to be brothers.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess:
      ‘Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared. […]’
  2. One's facial expression.
    Why the sad face?‎
  3. The public image; outward appearance.
    The face of this company.  He managed to show a bold face despite his embarrassment.‎
  4. The frontal aspect of something.
    The face of the cliff loomed above them.‎
  5. (figuratively) Presence; sight; front.
    to fly in the face of danger;  to speak before the face of God‎
    • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, The Bat, chapterI:
      The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.
  6. The directed force of something.
    They turned to boat into the face of the storm.‎
  7. Good reputation; standing in the eyes of others; dignity; prestige. (See lose face, save face).
  8. Shameless confidence; boldness; effrontery.
    • John Tillotson (1630-1694)
      This is the man that has the face to charge others with false citations.
  9. The width of a pulley, or the length of a cog from end to end.
    a pulley or cog wheel of ten inches face‎
  10. (geometry) Any of the flat bounding surfaces of a polyhedron. More generally, any of the bounding pieces of a polytope of any dimension.
  11. Any surface; especially a front or outer one.
    Put a big sign on each face of the building that can be seen from the road.  They climbed the north face of the mountain.  She wanted to wipe him off the face of the earth.‎
    • Bible, Genesis ii.6:
      A mist […] watered the whole face of the ground.
    • Lord Byron (1788-1824)
      Lake Leman woos me with its crystal face.
  12. The numbered dial of a clock or watch, the clock face.
  13. (slang) The mouth.
    Shut your face!  He's always stuffing his face with chips.‎
  14. (slang) Makeup; one's complete facial cosmetic application.
    I'll be out in a sec. Just let me put on my face.‎
  15. (slang, professional wrestling) Short for baby face. A wrestler whose on-ring persona is embodying heroic or virtuous traits.
    The fans cheered on the face as he made his comeback.‎
  16. (cricket) The front surface of a bat.
  17. (golf) The part of a golf club that hits the ball.
  18. (card games) The side of the card that shows its value (as opposed to the backside, which looks the same on all cards of the deck).
  19. (typography) A typeface.
  20. Mode of regard, whether favourable or unfavourable; favour or anger.
    • Bible, Numbers vi.25:
      The Lord make his face to shine upon thee.
    • Bible, Ezekiel vii.22:
      My face [favour] will I turn also from them.
  21. (computing) An interface.
    • 2003 May 14, Bart Leeten, Kris Meukens, JSR127 JavaServer Faces, VERSIE, p.1/6:
      For clarity reasons and to stress that JavaServer Faces is not only about ‘visual’ user interfaces, we propose to use the term ‘face’, to express what for visual interfaces is typically named a ‘screen’.
  22. The amount expressed on a bill, note, bond, etc., without any interest or discount; face value.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of McElrath to this entry?)

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

face ‎(third-person singular simple present faces, present participle facing, simple past and past participle faced)

  1. (transitive, of a person or animal) To position oneself or itself so as to have one's face closest to (something).
    Face the sun.‎
    • 1915, Emerson Hough, The Purchase Price, chapterI:
      Serene, smiling, enigmatic, she faced him with no fear whatever showing in her dark eyes. The clear light of the bright autumn morning had no terrors for youth and health like hers.
  2. (transitive, of an object) To have its front closest to, or in the direction of (something else).
    Turn the chair so it faces the table.‎
    • John Milton (1608-1674)
      He gained also with his forces that part of Britain which faces Ireland.
  3. (transitive) To cause (something) to turn or present a face or front, as in a particular direction.
    • 1963, Ian Fleming, On Her Majesty's Secret Service
      The croupier delicately faced her other two cards with the tip of his spatula. A four! She had lost!
  4. (transitive) To deal with (a difficult situation or person).
    I'm going to have to face this sooner or later.‎
    • John Dryden (1631-1700)
      I'll face / This tempest, and deserve the name of king.
    • 2013 June 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19:
      It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. It is a tax system that is pivotal in creating the increasing inequality that marks most advanced countries today […].
    • 2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55:
      According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.
  5. (intransitive) To have the front in a certain direction.
    The bunkers faced north and east, toward Germany.‎
  6. (transitive) To have as an opponent.
    • 2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC:
      And a further boost to England's qualification prospects came after the final whistle when Wales recorded a 2-1 home win over group rivals Montenegro, who Capello's men face in their final qualifier.
  7. (intransitive, cricket) To be the batsman on strike.
  8. (obsolete) To confront impudently; to bully.
  9. To cover in front, for ornament, protection, etc.; to put a facing upon.
    a building faced with marble‎
  10. To line near the edge, especially with a different material.
    to face the front of a coat, or the bottom of a dress‎
  11. To cover with better, or better appearing, material than the mass consists of, for purpose of deception, as the surface of a box of tea, a barrel of sugar, etc.
  12. (engineering) To make the surface of (anything) flat or smooth; to dress the face of (a stone, a casting, etc.); especially, in turning, to shape or smooth the flat surface of, as distinguished from the cylindrical surface.

Synonyms

  • (position oneself/itself towards):
  • (have its front closest to):
  • (deal with): confront, deal with

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: right · each · between · #174: face · tell · because · few

Anagrams

French

Etymology

From Middle French and Old French face, from Vulgar Latin *facia, from Latin faciēs ‎(“face, shape”).

Pronunciation

Noun

face f ‎(plural faces)

  1. face (anatomy)
  2. surface, side
  3. face (geometry)
  4. head (of a coin)

Derived terms

See also

Anagrams

Friulian

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *facia, from Latin faciēs ‎(“face, shape”).

Noun

face f ‎(plural facis)

  1. face

Interlingua

Verb

face

  1. present of facer
  2. imperative of facer

Italian

Verb

face

  1. (archaic) third-person singular indicative present of fare.

Latin

Noun

face

  1. ablative singular of fax

Verb

face

  1. second-person singular present imperative active of faciō

Middle English

Etymology

Borrowing from Old French face, from Vulgar Latin *facia < Classical Latin faciēs.

Noun

face (plural faces)

  1. (anatomy) face
    • 14th Century, Chaucer, General Prologue
      Boold was hir face, and fair, and reed of hewe.
      Bold was her face, and fair, and red of hue.

Synonyms

Descendants

Old French

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *facia, from Latin faciēs ‎(“face, shape”).

Noun

face f ‎(oblique plural faces, nominative singular face, nominative plural faces)

  1. (anatomy) face
    • circa 1170, Chrétien de Troyes, Érec et Énide:
      Le chief li desarme et la face.
      He exposed his head and his face.
    • circa 1155, Wace, Le Roman de Brut:
      Li rois regarda li deus freres
      A cors bien fais, a faces cleres
      The king looked at the two brothers
      With their well-built bodies and clear faces
    • 1303, Bernard de Gordon, Fleur de lis de medecine (a.k.a. lilium medicine), page 148 of this essay:
      Les signes subsequens est face enflée […]
      the symptoms are the following: swollen face […]

Synonyms

Descendants

Portuguese

face

Etymology

From Old Portuguese façe, faz, from Latin faciēs.

Pronunciation

  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈfa.sɨ/
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈfa.si/
  • Hyphenation: fa‧ce

Noun

face f (plural faces)

  1. (anatomy, geometry) face
  2. (anatomy) the cheek

Synonyms

References

  • “façe” in Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval.

Romanian

Etymology

From Latin facere, present active infinitive of faciō[1], from Proto-Italic *fakiō, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- ‎(“to put, place, set”). The verb's original past participle was fapt, from factum, but was changed and replaced several centuries ago. An alternative third-person simple perfect, fece, from fecit, was also found in some dialects.[2]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈfatʃe]

Verb

a face ‎(third-person singular present face, past participle făcut) 3rd conj.

  1. (transitive) do, make
  2. (reflexive) to be made, to be done

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.dex.ro/face
  2. ↑ https://archive.org/details/grundrissderroma00gruoft

Etymology

From Middle English face, from Old French face, from Vulgar Latin *facia, from Latin faciēs ‎(“form, appearance”), from facere ‎(“to make, do”). Displaced native Middle English onlete ‎(“face, countenance, appearance”), anleth ‎(“face”), from Old English anwlite, andwlita, compare German Antlitz; Old English ansīen ‎(“face”), Middle English neb ‎(“face, nose”) (from Old English nebb), Middle English ler, leor, leer ‎(“face, cheek, countenance”) (from Old English hlēor), and non-native Middle English vis ‎(“face, appearance, look”) (from Old French vis).

Picture dictionary

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Pronunciation

  • enPR: fās, IPA(key): /feɪs/
  • Hyphenation: face
  • Rhymes: -eɪs

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