face

plural faces

1. anatomyThe 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.

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   The monkey pressed its face against the railings.

   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.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter X, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →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.[…]’

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   Synonyms: dial, mug, mush, phiz, phizog, punim, visage, pan

2. informalslangOne's facial expression.

   Why the sad face?

   Synonyms: countenance, expression, facial expression, look, visage, expression, facial expression, look

3. informalslangA distorted facial expression; an expression of displeasure, insult, etc.

   Children! Stop making faces at each other!

4. informalslangThe amount expressed on a bill, note, bond, etc., without any interest or discount; face value.

   Talking about buying below face, I've bought a lot of rolled coins at below face. I'm not going to pay face just to drag them to the bank and deposit them.

   2005 March 16, Cliff, “Re: This sounds like a newbie question....”, in rec.collecting.coins (Usenet)

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   MAKE Money-wholesale U.S. stamps—buy mint stamps below face. Be a dealer. Send $1.00 for two giant catalogs, refunded first order. Von Stein, Bernardsville, N.J.

   1966 November, “Classified Opportunity Mart: Stamp Collecting [advertisement]”, in Popular Science Monthly, volume 189, number 5, page 229

   With certain exceptions for valuable stamps, dealers and many collectors are only willing to offer a percentage of face (80-90%). So instead, Lloyd took the sheets to work and posted a message asking if anyone wanted to buy sheets of old U.S. stamps at face.

   1995 January 18, Ed Jackson, “Re: US sheets -- Sell for how much?”, in rec.collecting.stamps (Usenet)

5. informalslangThe mouth.

   Shut your face!

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   He's always stuffing his face with chips.

   Synonyms: cakehole, gob, piehole, trap, bazoo, cakehole, chops, clam

6. informalslangMakeup; one's complete facial cosmetic application.

   I'll be out in a sec. Just let me put on my face.

7. figurativelyPublic image; outward appearance.

   Our chairman is the face of this company.

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   He managed to show a bold face despite his embarrassment.

   As the film points out, the actor became known as “the face of Aids”.

   2023 October 6, Ryan Gilbey, “The double life of Rock Hudson: ‘Let’s be frank, he was a horndog!’”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Synonyms: image, public image, reputation

8. figurativelyGood reputation; standing, in the eyes of others; dignity; prestige.

   lose face

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   save face

9. figurativelyShameless confidence; boldness; effrontery.

   You've got some face coming round here after what you've done.

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   a. 1694, John Tillotson, Preface to The Works This is the man that has the face to charge others with false citations.

10. figurativelyAn aspect of the character or nature of someone or something.

    Poverty is the ugly face of capitalism.

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    This is a face of her that we have not seen before.

11. figurativelyPresence; sight; front.

    to fly in the face of danger

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    to speak before the face of God

    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.

    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, page 01

12. figurativelyA person; the self; (reflexively) oneself.

    It was just the usual faces at the pub tonight.

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    He better not show his face around here no more.

13. figurativelyinformalA 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.

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    Vincent was the very best dancer in Bay Ridge—the ultimate Face.

    1976 June 7, Nik Cohn, “Inside the Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night”, in New York Magazine

14. figurativelyslanggovernmentA 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.

    The fans cheered on the face as he made his comeback.

    Synonyms: good guy, hero · Antonyms: heel

15. The frontal aspect of something.

    The face of the cliff loomed above them.

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    The cliff I am trying to scale is the face of Mount Roraima, an enormous sandstone mesa, or tepui.

    1989 May, Uwe George, “Venezuela's Islands in Time”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 534

    Then, the torpedo bombers arrived, but, unlike those that had dealt Hornet such a heavy blow, these split their attention between Enterprise, South Dakota, Portland, and the rather-bewildered destroyer USS Smith, which got a damaged Kate and its torpedo to the face for its trouble.

    2021 February 3, Drachinifel, 17:16 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - Santa Cruz (IJN 2 : 2 USN), archived from the original on 04 Dec 2022

    Synonyms: foreside

    1. The numbered dial of a clock or watch; the clock face.

       An interesting feature of the church is the invisible clock, which you can hear thumping away as you enter. Constructed in 1525, it is one of the oldest timepieces in England. It chimes the hours and the quarters, and every three hours it plays a hymn. But it has no faces.

       1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 163

       Synonyms: foreside

16. The directed force of something.

    They turned the boat into the face of the storm.

17. Any surface, especially a front or outer one.

    They climbed the north face of the mountain.

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    Put a big sign on each face of the building that can be seen from the road.

    She wanted to wipe him off the face of the earth.

    But there went vp a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 2:6

    Lake Leman woos me with its crystal face.

    1812–1818, Lord Byron, “(please specify |canto=I to IV)”, in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. , London: John Murray,, (please specify the stanza number)

    Captain Anderson: He has the secrets from the beacon. He has an army of geth at his command. And he won't stop until he's wiped humanity from the face of the galaxy!

    2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Normandy SR-1

18. geometryAny of the flat bounding surfaces of a polyhedron; more generally, any of the bounding pieces of a polytope of any dimension.

    A cube has six faces, each of which is a square.

    Synonyms: facet, surface

19. ball gamesThe front surface of a bat.
20. golfThe part of a golf club that hits the ball.
21. governmentThe head of a lion, shown face-on and cut off immediately behind the ears.
22. card gamesThe side of the card that shows its value (as opposed to the back side, which looks the same on all cards of the deck).
23. uncountablevideo gamesThe 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.

24. engineeringThe width of a pulley, or the length of a cog from end to end.

    a pulley or cog wheel of ten inches face

25. businessThe 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.
26. mediaA typeface.

    For the typophiles reading this, the book is attractively designed. It is set in Classic Aldine, a handsome face akin to the more popular Palatino. The designer's work is unfortunately marred by indifferent printing.

    1982 August 28, Mark McHarry, “A Minor Delight”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 7, page 12

27. A mode of regard, whether favourable or unfavourable; favour or anger.

    The Lord make his face shine vpon thee, and be gracious vnto thee:

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 6:25

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    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.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 7:22

present singular third person faces · participle present facing · participle past faced · past faced

1. transitiveTo position oneself or itself so as to have one's face closest to (something).

   Face the sun.

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   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.

   1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   Smooth and slender and naked, Mary Rittersdorf faced her husband.

   1964, Philip K. Dick, “THIRTEEN”, in Clans of the Alphane Moon, United States: Ace Books, →OCLC; republished London: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1996, →ISBN, page 193

2. transitiveTo have its front closest to, or in the direction of (something else).

   Turn the chair so it faces the table.

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   He gain'd alſo with his Forces that part of Britain which faces Ireland,

   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

3. transitiveTo cause (something) to turn or present a face or front, as in a particular direction.

   The croupier delicately faced her other two cards with the tip of his spatula. A four! She had lost!

   1963, Ian Fleming, On Her Majesty's Secret Service

4. transitivebusinessTo 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.

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   In my first job, I learned how to operate a till and to face the store to high standards.

5. transitiveTo be presented or confronted with; to have in prospect.

   We are facing an uncertain future.

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   The railway is still vital to Jordan's export trade, but in spite of the poor quality of the road, diesel lorries are gradually robbing it of freight traffic, and anyone who can afford to fly does so rather than face the long desert journey by rail.

   1956 March, R. C. Blaker, “The Hedjaz Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 167

   Ambassador Udina: The other species are scared. They've never faced anything like this before and they don't know what to do.

   2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel

6. transitiveTo 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.

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   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 7, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19

   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.

   2013 June 8, “Obama goes troll-hunting”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 55

   If he is convicted, he could face a life sentence.

   2026 August 13, Jonathan Dienst, Adam Reiss, Erica Byfield, Matt Lavietes, Chloe Atkins, “Luigi Mangione expected to plead guilty in New York federal case”, in NBC News, archived from the original on 13 Aug 2026

   Synonyms: confront, deal with

7. intransitiveTo have the front in a certain direction.

   The seats in the carriage faced backwards.

8. transitiveTo have as an opponent.

   Real Madrid face Juventus in the quarter-finals.

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   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.

   2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, in BBC

9. intransitiveball gamesTo be the batsman on strike.

   Willoughby comes in to bowl, and it's Hobson facing.

10. dialectalobsoletetransitiveTo confront impudently; to bully.

    Face not mee: thou haſt brau'd manie men, braue not me; I will neither bee fac'd nor brau'd.

    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

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    That was it. Faced by my literary hero. Nicely faced though, he was charming throughout. And it was just as I suspected; there was no way in Hell Kurt Vonnegut would acquiesce to dinner with a bunch of moon-eyed, gooey strangers.

    1996, Trace Beaulieu, The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide, Bantam, →ISBN

11. transitiveTo cover in front, for ornament, protection, etc.; to put a facing upon.

    a building faced with marble

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    These upper walls seem mainly to have been formed, not of sun- or fire-baked bricks, as at Gournia or Palaikastro, but of clay or rubble, coated with plaster or faced with gypsum slabs.

    1907, Ronald M. Burrows, The Discoveries In Crete, page 7

12. transitiveTo 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. engineeringTo 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.
15. slangtransitiveTo smoke (as, a joint or blunt) entirely by oneself.

    He faced that blunt in ten minutes.

1. not comparableslangIntensely.

   He's tripping face.

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   She must be rolling face.

1. mnemonicentertainmentA mnemonic phrase and initialism to help remember the order of the notes on the four spaces of a musical treble clef in order from the bottom to the top.