fore

1 of 6

noun

: something that occupies a front position

fore

2 of 6

adverb

1
: in, toward, or near the front : forward
The plane's exits are located fore and aft.
2
obsolete : at an earlier time or period

fore

3 of 6

adjective

1
: situated in front of something else : forward
2
: prior in order of occurrence : former

fore

4 of 6

preposition

variants or less commonly 'fore
1
: in the presence of
2
chiefly dialectal : before

fore

5 of 6

interjection

used by a golfer to warn anyone within range of the probable line of flight of the ball

fore-

6 of 6

combining form

1
a
: earlier : beforehand
foresee
b
: occurring earlier : occurring beforehand
foreshock
2
a
: situated at the front : in front
foreleg
b
: front part of (something specified)
forearm
c
: foremast
foretop
Phrases
to the fore
: in or into a position of prominence : forward

Examples of fore in a Sentence

Adverb The plane's exits are located fore and aft. Adjective the fore and aft cabins cats have five fore toes but only four hind toes Preposition set out early with the hope of arriving fore the sunset fore the stranger there swarmed a gaggle of curious street urchins
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
The more recent tradition of collective leadership, a model that came to the fore after the chaos of Mao Zedong’s strongman rule, has taken a backseat once again under Xi. Simone McCarthy, CNN, 11 Mar. 2024 The film brings these themes gently to the fore with a lovely lightness of touch, while elsewhere the filmmakers demonstrate a real eye for both the beauty and the bloodshed of Los Santos’ game world. Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2024 Harris takes more public role criticizing Israel’s actions in Gaza This week in Washington, the growing tensions between the White House and Netanyahu are coming to the fore. Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024 Contributor The technology industry is going through a period of profound change, and much more progress is anticipated in 2024, with new leaders coming to the fore. Tyler Shepherd, USA TODAY, 7 Jan. 2024 That’s where the circular economy comes to the fore. Carmen Ene, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 Julius Baer shares lost almost a quarter of their value immediately after the Benko risks came to the fore, but have rebounded somewhat since. Jan-Henrik Foerster, Bloomberg.com, 23 Feb. 2024 This issue came to the fore over Soviet restrictions on Jewish emigration and the treatment of Soviet political dissidents, such as the author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024 In the past decade these questions have come to the fore as images of the interstellar medium taken with Herschel, as well as with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile and other telescopes, have highlighted how significant cloud substructure might be in star formation. Nia Imara, Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024
Adjective
Our giant cyborg beetle mainly relies on neuromuscular stimulation of direct flight muscles for flight control and leg muscles of the fore legs for walking control. IEEE Spectrum, 28 Nov. 2017 For years most climbers, led by guides, stopped at a fore summit. John Branch, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fore.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Adverb and Preposition

Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old English for

Adjective and Noun

fore-

Interjection

probably short for before

Combining form

Middle English for-, fore-, from Old English fore-, from fore, adverb

First Known Use

Noun

1637, in the meaning defined above

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Preposition

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Interjection

circa 1878, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fore was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near fore

Cite this Entry

“Fore.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fore. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

fore

1 of 5 adverb
ˈfō(ə)r How to pronounce fore (audio)
ˈfȯ(ə)r
: in, toward, or near the front : forward

fore

2 of 5 adjective
: being or coming before in time, order, or space

fore

3 of 5 noun
: a front place or position
came to the fore

fore

4 of 5 interjection
used by a golfer to warn anyone within range of a hit ball

fore-

5 of 5 combining form
1
a
: earlier : beforehand
foresee
b
: occurring earlier : occurring beforehand
forethought
2
a
: situated at the front : in front
foreleg
b
: front part of (something specified)
forearm
Etymology

Combining form

Old English fore- "earlier, beforehand"

Medical Definition

fore

adjective
: situated in front of something else

More from Merriam-Webster on fore

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!