English
face
Pronunciation Noun

face (plural faces)

  1. (anatomy) The front part of the head of a human or other animal, featuring the eyes, nose and mouth, and the surrounding area.
    That girl has a pretty face.
    The monkey pressed its face against the railings.
  2. One's facial expression.
    Why the sad face?
  3. (in expressions such as 'make a face') A distorted facial expression; an expression of displeasure, insult, etc.
    Children! Stop making faces at each other!
  4. The public image; outward appearance.
    Our chairman is the face of this company.
    He managed to show a bold face despite his embarrassment.
  5. The frontal aspect of something.
    The face of the cliff loomed above them.
  6. An aspect of the character or nature of someone or something.
    This is a face of her that we have not seen before.
    Poverty is the ugly face of capitalism.
  7. (figurative) Presence; sight; front.
    to fly in the face of danger
    to speak before the face of God
    • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart; Avery Hopwood, chapter I, in The Bat: A Novel from the Play (Dell Book; 241), New York, N.Y.: Dell Publishing Company, OCLC 20230794 ↗, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hwptej;view=1up;seq=5 page 01]:
      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.
  8. The directed force of something.
    They turned the boat into the face of the storm.
  9. Good reputation; standing in the eyes of others; dignity; prestige. (See lose face, save face).
  10. Shameless confidence; boldness; effrontery.
    You've got some face coming round here after what you've done.
    • This is the man that has the face to charge others with false citations.
  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.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Genesis 2:6 ↗:
      But there went vp a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
    • Lake Leman woos me with its crystal face.
  12. (geometry) Any of the flat bounding surfaces of a polyhedron. More generally, any of the bounding pieces of a polytope of any dimension.
  13. The numbered dial of a clock or watch, the clock face.
  14. (slang) The mouth.
    Shut your face!
    He's always stuffing his face with chips.
  15. (slang) Makeup; one's complete facial cosmetic application.
    I'll be out in a sec. Just let me put on my face.
  16. (metonymic) A person.
    It was just the usual faces at the pub tonight.
  17. (informal) A familiar or well-known person; a member of a particular scene, such as music or fashion scene.
    He owned several local businesses and was a face around town.
  18. (slang, professional wrestling) A baby face: a headlining wrestler whose in-ring persona is embodying heroic or virtuous traits.
    The fans cheered on the face as he made his comeback.
  19. (cricket) The front surface of a bat.
  20. (golf) The part of a golf club that hits the ball.
  21. (cards) The side of the card that shows its value (as opposed to the back side, which looks the same on all cards of the deck).
  22. (heraldiccharge) The head of a lion, shown face-on and cut off immediately behind the ears.
  23. The width of a pulley, or the length of a cog from end to end.
    a pulley or cog wheel of ten inches face
  24. (typography) A typeface.
  25. Mode of regard, whether favourable or unfavourable; favour or anger.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Numbers 6:25 ↗:
      The Lord make his face shine vpon thee, and be gracious vnto thee:
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), imprinted at London: By Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981 ↗, Ezekiel 7:22 ↗:
      My face will I turne also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it and defile it.
  26. (informal) The amount expressed on a bill, note, bond, etc., without any interest or discount; face value.
Synonyms Antonyms Verb

face (faces, present participle facing; 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.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314 ↗, page 0045 ↗:
      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.
    • 1670, John Milton, The History of Britain, […] , London: Printed by J.M. for James Alleſtry, […] , OCLC 78038412 ↗, Book II, page 72 ↗:
      He gain'd 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 be presented or confronted with; to have in prospect.
    We are facing an uncertain future.
  5. (transitive) To deal with (a difficult situation or person); to accept (facts, reality, etc.) even when undesirable.
    I'm going to have to face this sooner or later.
    • I'll face / This tempest, and deserve the name of king.
  6. (intransitive) To have the front in a certain direction.
    The seats in the carriage faced backwards.
  7. (transitive) To have as an opponent.
    Puddletown United face Mudchester Rovers in the quarter-finals.
  8. (intransitive, cricket) To be the batsman on strike.
    Willoughby comes in to bowl, and it's Hobson facing.
  9. (transitive, obsolete) To confront impudently; to bully.
    • c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene iii], page 224 ↗, column 2:
      Face not mee: thou haſt brau'd manie men, braue not me; I will neither bee fac'd nor brau'd.
  10. (transitive) To cover in front, for ornament, protection, etc.; to put a facing upon.
    a building faced with marble
  11. (transitive) To line near the edge, especially with a different material.
    to face the front of a coat, or the bottom of a dress
  12. 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.
  13. (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.
  14. (transitive, retail) To arrange the products in (a store) so that they are tidy and attractive.
    In my first job, I learned how to operate a till and to face the store to high standards.
Synonyms
  • (position oneself/itself towards)
  • (have its front closest to)
  • (deal with) confront, deal with
Translations Translations
  • French: faire face à, être en face de, être vis-à-vis de
  • German: etwas (an etwas) anlehnen (face something), stellen, gegenüber sein, gegenüberliegen
  • Italian: fronteggiare
  • Portuguese: encarar
Translations

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