/ English Dictionary

FACE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A vertical surface of a building or cliff

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

vertical surface (a surface that is vertical)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "face"):

perpendicular (an extremely steep face)

coalface (the part of a coal seam that is being cut)

Derivation:

face (cover the front or surface of)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The side upon which the use of a thing depends (usually the most prominent surface of an object)

Example:

he dealt the cards face down

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

front (the side that is seen or that goes first)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "face"):

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)

Holonyms ("face" is a part of...):

playing card (one of a pack of cards that are used to play card games)

ticker; watch (a small portable timepiece)

Derivation:

face (turn so as to expose the face)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The striking or working surface of an implement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

surface (the outer boundary of an artifact or a material layer constituting or resembling such a boundary)

Holonyms ("face" is a part of...):

club-head; club head; clubhead; golf-club head ((golf) the head of the club which strikes the ball)

head (the striking part of a tool)

racket; racquet (a sports implement (usually consisting of a handle and an oval frame with a tightly interlaced network of strings) used to strike a ball (or shuttlecock) in various games)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The general outward appearance of something

Example:

the face of the city is changing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

appearance; visual aspect (outward or visible aspect of a person or thing)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The feelings expressed on a person's face

Example:

an angry face

Synonyms:

aspect; expression; face; facial expression; look

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

countenance; visage (the appearance conveyed by a person's face)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "face"):

leer (a suggestive or sneering look or grin)

light; spark; sparkle; twinkle (merriment expressed by a brightness or gleam or animation of countenance)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Impudent aggressiveness

Example:

he had the effrontery to question my honesty

Synonyms:

boldness; brass; cheek; face; nerve

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

aggressiveness (the quality of being bold and enterprising)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "face"):

audaciousness; audacity (aggressive boldness or unmitigated effrontery)

Derivation:

face (oppose, as in hostility or a competition)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Status in the eyes of others

Example:

he lost face

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

position; status (the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society)

Sense 8

Meaning:

The front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear

Example:

I wish I had seen the look on his face when he got the news

Synonyms:

face; human face

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

external body part (any body part visible externally)

Meronyms (parts of "face"):

jaw (the bones of the skull that frame the mouth and serve to open it; the bones that hold the teeth)

jowl (a fullness and looseness of the flesh of the lower cheek and jaw (characteristic of aging))

cheek (either side of the face below the eyes)

brow; forehead (the part of the face above the eyes)

facial muscle (any of the skeletal muscles of the face)

feature; lineament (the characteristic parts of a person's face: eyes and nose and mouth and chin)

chin; mentum (the protruding part of the lower jaw)

nose; olfactory organ (the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals)

facial; facial nerve; nervus facialis; seventh cranial nerve (cranial nerve that supplies facial muscles)

facial vein; vena facialis (any of several veins draining the face)

brow; eyebrow; supercilium (the arch of hair above each eye)

eye; oculus; optic (the organ of sight)

mouth (the externally visible part of the oral cavity on the face and the system of organs surrounding the opening)

beard; face fungus; whiskers (the hair growing on the lower part of a man's face)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "face"):

countenance; kisser; mug; phiz; physiognomy; smiler; visage (the human face ('kisser' and 'smiler' and 'mug' are informal terms for 'face' and 'phiz' is British))

Holonyms ("face" is a part of...):

homo; human; human being; man (any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage)

caput; head (the upper part of the human body or the front part of the body in animals; contains the face and brains)

Derivation:

facial (of or concerning the face)

Sense 9

Meaning:

The part of an animal corresponding to the human face

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

external body part (any body part visible externally)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "face"):

muzzle (forward projecting part of the head of certain animals; includes the jaws and nose)

Holonyms ("face" is a part of...):

animal; animate being; beast; brute; creature; fauna (a living organism characterized by voluntary movement)

Derivation:

facial (of or concerning the face)

Sense 10

Meaning:

A specific size and style of type within a type family

Synonyms:

case; face; font; fount; typeface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

type (printed characters)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "face"):

Helvetica; sans serif (a typeface in which characters have no serifs)

raster font; screen font (the font that is displayed on a computer screen)

italic (a typeface with letters slanting upward to the right)

bold; bold face; boldface (a typeface with thick heavy lines)

black letter; Gothic (a heavy typeface in use from 15th to 18th centuries)

cartridge font; font cartridge (any font that is contained in a cartridge that can be plugged into a computer printer)

proportional font (any font whose different characters have different widths)

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))

bicameral script (a script having two distinct cases)

unicameral script (a script with a single case)

Holonyms ("face" is a member of...):

type family (a complete set of type suitable for printing text)

Sense 11

Meaning:

A contorted facial expression

Example:

she made a grimace at the prospect

Synonyms:

face; grimace

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

facial expression; facial gesture (a gesture executed with the facial muscles)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "face"):

moue; pout; wry face (a disdainful grimace)

Sense 12

Meaning:

A surface forming part of the outside of an object

Example:

they travelled across the face of the continent

Synonyms:

face; side

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

surface (the extended two-dimensional outer boundary of a three-dimensional object)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "face"):

top; top side; upper side; upside (the highest or uppermost side of anything)

back end; backside; rear (the side of an object that is opposite its front)

windward (the side of something that is toward the wind)

lee; lee side; leeward (the side of something that is sheltered from the wind)

forepart; front; front end (the side that is forward or prominent)

bottom; underside; undersurface (the lower side of anything)

beam-ends ((nautical) at the ends of the transverse deck beams of a vessel)

Derivation:

face (turn so as to expose the face)

facial (of or pertaining to the outside surface of an object)

Sense 13

Meaning:

A part of a person that is used to refer to a person

Example:

when he returned to work he met many new faces

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("face" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Domain usage:

synecdoche (substituting a more inclusive term for a less inclusive one or vice versa)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Deal with (something unpleasant) head on

Example:

He faced the terrible consequences of his mistakes

Synonyms:

confront; face; face up

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "face" is one way to...):

approach; go about; set about (begin to deal with)

Verb group:

confront; face; present (present somebody with something, usually to accuse or criticize)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "face"):

tackle; take on; undertake (accept as a challenge)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 2

Meaning:

Present somebody with something, usually to accuse or criticize

Example:

An enormous dilemma faces us

Synonyms:

confront; face; present

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Verb group:

confront; face; face up (deal with (something unpleasant) head on)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Oppose, as in hostility or a competition

Example:

The two enemies finally confronted each other

Synonyms:

confront; face

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "face" is one way to...):

encounter; meet; play; take on (contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "face"):

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)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Also:

face off (start a game by a face-off)

Derivation:

face (impudent aggressiveness)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Cover the front or surface of

Example:

The building was faced with beautiful stones

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "face" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Verb group:

face (line the edge (of a garment) with a different material)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "face"):

revet (face with a layer of stone or concrete or other supporting material so as to retain)

reface (provide with a new facing)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

face (a vertical surface of a building or cliff)

facing (providing something with a surface of a different material)

facing (a protective covering that protects the outside of a building)

facing (an ornamental coating to a building)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Line the edge (of a garment) with a different material

Example:

face the lapels of the jacket

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "face" is one way to...):

line (cover the interior of)

Verb group:

face (cover the front or surface of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "face"):

reface (put a new facing on (a garment))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

facing (a lining applied to the edge of a garment for ornamentation or strengthening)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Turn so as to face; turn the face in a certain direction

Example:

Turn and face your partner now

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "face" is one way to...):

turn (change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense)

Verb group:

face (turn so as to expose the face)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 7

Meaning:

Turn so as to expose the face

Example:

face a playing card

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "face" is one way to...):

disclose; expose; uncover (reveal to view as by removing a cover)

Verb group:

face (turn so as to face; turn the face in a certain direction)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

face (the side upon which the use of a thing depends (usually the most prominent surface of an object))

face (a surface forming part of the outside of an object)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Be oriented in a certain direction, often with respect to another reference point; be opposite to

Example:

The building faces the park

Synonyms:

face; front; look

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "face" is one way to...):

lie (be located or situated somewhere; occupy a certain position)

Verb group:

face (be opposite)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "face"):

confront (be face to face with)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sentence example:

His fields face mine at this point

Sense 9

Meaning:

Be opposite

Example:

the two sofas face each other

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "face" is one way to...):

be (occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere)

Verb group:

face; front; look (be oriented in a certain direction, often with respect to another reference point; be opposite to)

Sentence frames:

Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

In which case it would find itself face to face with the dog attacked, and also it would find itself facing the whip of the driver.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

I could catch glimpses of my face, white and ghastly, distorted with pain, in the cabin mirror.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Her face was covered with wrinkles, her hair was nearly white, and she walked rather stiffly.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

An ivory-faced and silvery-haired old woman opened the door.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Silver's face was a picture; his eyes started in his head with wrath.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Our client looked down with a rueful face at his own unconventional appearance.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I approached this tremendous being; I dared not again raise my eyes to his face, there was something so scaring and unearthly in his ugliness.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

So I gave him my word that I would come, and then all the rest of the day I went about the most sad-faced lad in Sussex.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A spear's length from him, they each threw a somersault into the air, and came down upon their feet with smirking faces and their hands over their hearts.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then the huntsman washed his face and went into the court that they might know him.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

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