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Examples of front matter in a Sentence
The conventions of the book are explained in the front matter.
Recent Examples on the Web
Add pages for the front matter, back matter, index, glossary and other content.
—Peter Gregory, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2023
The front matter includes an alphabetical list of contributors, along with their professions, but none of their credits or even their studio affiliations.
—Farran Smith Nehme, WSJ, 18 Nov. 2022
Literary superstars such as Taylor have been eager to take on the role of both guide and medium, providing front matter that links the past with the present by placing classic texts in a contemporary context.
—Je Banach, The Atlantic, 8 Sep. 2022
Paging through this front matter feels like waiting for a haunted carnival ride to start, only to be wrong-footed.
—Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 31 Oct. 2019
Some of Richard McGuire’s sequences are taxonomies: bird cages, hats, ice, or the collection of wire shapes that decorates the front matter of this book.
—The New York Review of Books, 13 Oct. 2016
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'front matter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
circa 1909, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near front matter
Cite this Entry
“Front matter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/front%20matter. Accessed 9 Sep. 2024.
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