fore-and-after

noun

fore-and-aft·​er ˌfȯr-ə-ˈnaf-tər How to pronounce fore-and-after (audio)
: a ship with a fore-and-aft rig
especially : schooner

Word History

First Known Use

1823, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fore-and-after was in 1823

Dictionary Entries Near fore-and-after

fore-and-aft bridge

fore-and-after

fore-and-aft rig

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Fore-and-after.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fore-and-after. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

More from Merriam-Webster on fore-and-after

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fore-and-after

Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Absent Letters That Are Heard Anyway

How to Use Accents and Diacritical Marks
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

The Words of the Week - Apr. 19

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

9 Superb Owl Words

10 Words for Lesser-Known Games and Sports

Your Favorite Band is in the Dictionary
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game You can make only 12 words. Pick the best ones!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A crossword with a twist
winning words from the national spelling bee logo
Spelling Bee Quiz Can you outdo past winners of the National Spelli...