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face

/feɪs/

/feɪs/

Other forms: faces; faced; facing

If you have a mirror above your bed, the first thing you see each morning might be your own face. Once you've seen that your nose is still there, you're ready to face the day!

When you face someone you are across from them, maybe looking them in the eye. If you make a funny face, the person across from you might laugh. Or, if the person is your mother, she might tell you to stop it unless you want your face to stay that way. If you want to “save face,” then it's important to you not to look foolish in front of others.

Definitions of face
  1. noun
    the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
    “he washed his face
    “I wish I had seen the look on his face when he got the news”
    synonyms: human face
    see moresee less
    types:
    countenance, kisser, mug, phiz, physiognomy, smiler, visage
    the human face (`kisser' and `smiler' and `mug' are informal terms for `face' and `phiz' is British)
    pudding face, pudding-face
    a large fat human face
    type of:
    external body part
    any body part visible externally
  2. noun
    the part of an animal corresponding to the human face
    see moresee less
    types:
    muzzle
    forward projecting part of the head of certain animals; includes the jaws and nose
    type of:
    external body part
    any body part visible externally
  3. noun
    the feelings expressed on a person's face
    “an angry face
    synonyms: aspect, expression, facial expression, look
    see moresee less
    types:
    leer
    a suggestive or sneering look or grin
    light, spark, sparkle, twinkle
    merriment expressed by a brightness or gleam or animation of countenance
    type of:
    countenance, visage
    the appearance conveyed by a person's face
  4. noun
    a part of a person that is used to refer to a person
    “he looked out at a roomful of faces
    “when he returned to work he met many new faces
  5. noun
    a contorted facial expression
    synonyms: grimace
    see moresee less
    types:
    moue, pout, wry face
    a disdainful grimace
    type of:
    facial expression, facial gesture
    a gesture executed with the facial muscles
  6. verb
    turn so as to face; turn the face in a certain direction
    “Turn and face your partner now”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    turn
    change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
  7. verb
    turn so as to expose the face
    face a playing card”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    disclose, expose
    disclose to view as by removing a cover
  8. noun
    the general outward appearance of something
    “the face of the city is changing”
    see moresee less
    type of:
    appearance, visual aspect
    outward or visible aspect of a person or thing
  9. noun
    a surface forming part of the outside of an object
    “dew dripped from the face of the leaf”
    synonyms: side
    see moresee less
    types:
    show 21 types...
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    beam-ends
    (nautical) at the ends of the transverse deck beams of a vessel
    bottom, underside, undersurface
    the lower side of anything
    forepart, front, front end
    the side that is forward or prominent
    lee, lee side, leeward
    the side of something that is sheltered from the wind
    windward
    the side of something that is toward the wind
    back end, backside, rear
    the side of an object that is opposite its front
    top, top side, upper side, upside
    the highest or uppermost side of anything
    base
    a flat bottom on which something is intended to sit
    bilge
    where the sides of the vessel curve in to form the bottom
    crest, crown
    the center of a cambered road
    heel
    the bottom of a shoe or boot; the back part of a shoe or boot that touches the ground and provides elevation
    sole
    the underside of footwear or a golf club
    poll
    the part of the head between the ears
    crown, pate, poll
    the top of the head
    nape, nucha, scruff
    the back side of the neck
    underbelly
    lower side
    forefront, head
    the part in the front or nearest the viewer
    rearward
    direction toward the rear
    desktop
    the top of a desk
    rooftop
    the top of a (usually flat) roof
    tiptop
    the extreme top or summit
    type of:
    surface
    the extended two-dimensional outer boundary of a three-dimensional object
  10. noun
    a vertical surface of a building or cliff
    see moresee less
    types:
    perpendicular
    an extremely steep face
    coalface
    the part of a coal seam that is being cut
    type of:
    vertical surface
    a surface that is vertical
  11. noun
    the side upon which the use of a thing depends (usually the most prominent surface of an object)
    “he dealt the cards face down”
    see moresee less
    types:
    clock dial, clock face
    the face of a clock showing hours and minutes of the day
    dial
    the face of a timepiece; graduated to show the hours
    type of:
    front
    the side that is seen or that goes first
  12. noun
    the striking or working surface of an implement
    see moresee less
    type of:
    surface
    the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary
  13. verb
    cover the front or surface of
    “The building was faced with beautiful stones”
    see moresee less
    types:
    revet
    face with a layer of stone or concrete or other supporting material so as to retain
    reface
    provide with a new facing
    type of:
    cover
    provide with a covering or cause to be covered
  14. verb
    be opposite
    “the facing page”
    “the two sofas face each other”
    Synonyms:
    front, look
    be oriented in a certain direction, often with respect to another reference point; be opposite to
    see moresee less
    type of:
    be
    occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere
  15. verb
    be oriented in a certain direction, often with respect to another reference point; be opposite to
    “The building faces the park”
    synonyms: front, look
    see moresee less
    Antonyms:
    back
    be in back of
    types:
    confront
    be face to face with
    type of:
    lie
    be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position
  16. verb
    line the edge (of a garment) with a different material
    face the lapels of the jacket”
    see moresee less
    types:
    reface
    put a new facing on (a garment)
    type of:
    line
    cover the interior of
  17. verb
    deal with (something unpleasant) head on
    “He faced the terrible consequences of his mistakes”
    synonyms: confront, face up
    confront, present
    present somebody with something, usually to accuse or criticize
    see moresee less
    Antonyms:
    avoid
    stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something
    types:
    tackle, take on, undertake
    accept as a challenge
    rise
    exert oneself to meet a challenge
    type of:
    approach, go about, set about
    begin to deal with
  18. verb
    present somebody with something, usually to accuse or criticize
    “He was faced with all the evidence and could no longer deny his actions”
    “An enormous dilemma faces us”
    synonyms: confront, present
    confront, face up
    deal with (something unpleasant) head on
  19. verb
    oppose, as in hostility or a competition
    “Jackson faced Smith in the boxing ring”
    synonyms: confront
    see moresee less
    types:
    breast, front
    confront bodily
    take the bull by the horns
    face a difficulty and grapple with it without avoiding it
    match, oppose, pit, play off
    set into opposition or rivalry
    type of:
    encounter, meet, play, take on
    contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle
  20. noun
    a specific size and style of type within a type family
    synonyms: case, font, fount, typeface
    see moresee less
    types:
    show 17 types...
    hide 17 types...
    unicameral script
    a script with a single case
    bicameral script
    a script having two distinct cases
    constant-width font, fixed-width font, monospaced font, typewriter font
    a typeface is which each character is given the same width (as by a typewriter)
    proportional font
    any font whose different characters have different widths
    cartridge font, font cartridge
    any font that is contained in a cartridge that can be plugged into a computer printer
    Gothic, black letter
    a heavy typeface in use from 15th to 18th centuries
    bold, bold face, boldface
    a typeface with thick heavy lines
    italic
    a typeface with letters slanting upward to the right
    raster font, screen font
    the font that is displayed on a computer screen
    Helvetica, sans serif
    a typeface in which characters have no serifs
    Latin alphabet, Roman alphabet
    the alphabet evolved by the ancient Romans which serves for writing most of the languages of western Europe
    Hebraic alphabet, Hebrew alphabet, Hebrew script
    a Semitic alphabet used since the 5th century BC for writing the Hebrew language (and later for writing Yiddish and Ladino)
    Cyrillic, Cyrillic alphabet
    an alphabet derived from the Greek alphabet and used for writing Slavic languages (Russian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and some other Slavic languages)
    Arabic alphabet
    the alphabet of 28 characters derived from Aramaic and used for writing Arabic languages (and borrowed for writing Urdu)
    Bodoni, Bodoni font, modern, modern font
    a typeface (based on an 18th century design by Gianbattista Bodoni) distinguished by regular shape and hairline serifs and heavy downstrokes
    old style, old style font
    a typeface (based on an 18th century design) distinguished by irregularity and slanted ascender serifs and little contrast between light and heavy strokes
    roman, roman letters, roman print, roman type
    a typeface used in ancient Roman inscriptions
    type of:
    type
    printed characters
  21. noun
    status in the eyes of others
    “he lost face
    see moresee less
    type of:
    position, status
    the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society
  22. noun
    impudent aggressiveness
    synonyms: boldness, brass, cheek, nerve
    see moresee less
    types:
    audaciousness, audacity
    aggressive boldness or unmitigated effrontery
    assumption, effrontery, presumption, presumptuousness
    audacious (even arrogant) behavior that you have no right to
    type of:
    aggressiveness
    the quality of being bold and enterprising
Pronunciation
US

/feɪs/

UK

/feɪs/

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