English
face
Etymology

From Middle English face, from Old French face, from Late Latin facia, from Latin faciēs.

Pronunciation
  • (RP, America) enPR: fās, IPA: /feɪs/
  • (SSB) IPA: /fɛjs/
  • (Fiji) IPA: /feːs/
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.
    Synonyms: dial, mug, mush, phiz, phizog, punim, visage, pan, Thesaurus:countenance
    That girl has a pretty face.
    The monkey pressed its face against the railings.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:
      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: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC ↗:
      ‘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. (informal or slang)
    1. One's facial expression.
      Synonyms: countenance, expression, facial expression, look, visage, Thesaurus:facial expression, Thesaurus:countenance
      Why the sad face?
    2. (in expressions such as 'make a face') A distorted facial expression; an expression of displeasure, insult, etc.
      Children! Stop making faces at each other!
    3. (informal) The amount expressed on a bill, note, bond, etc., without any interest or discount; face value.
    4. (professional wrestling, slang) A headlining wrestler with a persona embodying heroic or virtuous traits and who is regarded as a "good guy", especially one who is handsome and well-conditioned; a baby face.
      Synonyms: good guy, hero
      Antonyms: heel
      The fans cheered on the face as he made his comeback.
    5. (slang) The mouth.
      Synonyms: cakehole, gob, piehole, trap, Thesaurus:mouth
      Shut your face!
      He's always stuffing his face with chips.
    6. (slang) Makeup; one's complete facial cosmetic application.
      I'll be out in a sec. Just let me put on my face.
  3. (figurative)
    1. Public image; outward appearance.
      Synonyms: image, public image, reputation
      Our chairman is the face of this company.
      He managed to show a bold face despite his embarrassment.
    2. Good reputation; standing, in the eyes of others; dignity; prestige.
      lose face
      save face
    3. Shameless confidence; boldness; effrontery.
      You've got some face coming round here after what you've done.
      • a. 1694, John Tillotson, Preface to The Works
        This is the man that has the face to charge others with false citations.
    4. 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.
    5. (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 ↗, [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.
    6. (metonymically) A person; the self; (reflexively, objectify) oneself.
      It was just the usual faces at the pub tonight.
      He better not show his face around here no more.
      Coordinate term: ass (see ass § Usage notes)
    7. (informal) A familiar or well-known person; a member of a particular scene, such as the music or fashion scene.
      He owned several local businesses and was a face around town.
  4. The frontal aspect of something.
    Synonyms: foreside
    The face of the cliff loomed above them.
    1. The numbered dial of a clock or watch; the clock face.
  5. The directed force of something.
    They turned the boat into the face of the storm.
  6. 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), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Genesis 2:6 ↗:
      But there went vp a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
    • 1812–1818, Lord Byron, “Canto LXVIII”, in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. , London: John Murray,, (please specify the stanza number):
      Lake Leman woos me with its crystal face.
  7. (geometry) Any of the flat bounding surfaces of a polyhedron; more generally, any of the bounding pieces of a polytope of any dimension.
    Synonyms: facet, surface
    A cube has six faces, each of which is a square.
  8. (cricket) The front surface of a bat.
  9. (golf) The part of a golf club that hits the ball.
  10. (heraldiccharge) The head of a lion, shown face-on and cut off immediately behind the ears.
  11. (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).
  12. (video games, TCGs, uncountable) The player character, especially as opposed to minions or other entities which might absorb damage instead of the player character.
    When playing aggro decks, hit face whenever you can; it's not worth spending your resources to try to control the board.
  13. (mechanics) The width of a pulley, or the length of a cog from end to end.
    a pulley or cog wheel of ten inches face
  14. (mining) The exposed surface of the mineral deposit where it is being mined. Also the exposed end surface of a tunnel where digging may still be in progress.
  15. (typography) A typeface.
  16. A mode of regard, whether favourable or unfavourable; favour or anger.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Numbers 6:25 ↗:
      The Lord make his face shine vpon thee, and be gracious vnto thee:
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, 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.
Translations

see face/translations

Verb

face (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.
    • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:
      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 Second Book”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call'd England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC ↗, 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, retail) To improve the display of stock by ensuring items aren't upside down or back to front and are pulled forwards.
    I've put out the stock and broken down the boxes, it's just facing left to do.
    In my first job, I learned how to operate a till and to face the store to high standards.
  5. (transitive) To be presented or confronted with; to have in prospect.
    We are facing an uncertain future.
  6. (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.
    • 1681, John Dryden, The Spanish Fryar: Or, the Double Discovery. […], London: […] Richard Tonson and Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗, (please specify the page number):
      I'll face / This tempest, and deserve the name of king.
  7. (intransitive) To have the front in a certain direction.
    The seats in the carriage faced backwards.
  8. (transitive) To have as an opponent.
    Real Madrid face Juventus in the quarter-finals.
  9. (intransitive, cricket) To be the batsman on strike.
    Willoughby comes in to bowl, and it's Hobson facing.
  10. (transitive, obsolete) To confront impudently; to bully.
    • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [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.
  11. (transitive) To cover in front, for ornament, protection, etc.; to put a facing upon.
    a building faced with marble
  12. (transitive) To line near the edge, especially with a different material.
    to face the front of a coat, or the bottom of a dress
  13. 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.
  14. (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 (transverse) surface of, as distinguished from the cylindrical (axial) surface.
    Hyponym: spotface
Synonyms
  • (position oneself/itself towards)
  • (have its front closest to)
  • (deal with) confront, deal with
Translations Translations Translations Translations

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