forecourt

plural forecourts

1. UKThe area in front of a petrol station where the petrol pumps are situated; pumping area.
2. UKAny open area in front of a building.

   Other improvements include a new station forecourt on Love Lane, new cycle parking, improved CCTV and an additional ticket vending machine in the ticket hall.

   2019 October, “New White Hart Lane station opens”, in Modern Railways, page 23

   2 more examples

   Limerick terminus has changed but little since its opening, and travellers still ascend the same flight of steps from the forecourt to enter the handsome two-storey stone building, which contains the offices and a recently-modernised refreshment room.

   1958 May 28, W. J. South and L. Hyland, “Limerick as a Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 297

   The first group is incised on the east wall and eastern part of the south wall of the temple forecourt. The second group is incised into the floor and paving stones of the forecourt, extending onto the pavement of the Podium.

   2007, Pamela Rose, The Meroitic Temple Complex at Qasr Ibrim, volume 84, page 105

   Antonyms: backcourt, backyard

3. In racket sports, the front part of the court.

   Antonyms: backcourt