Meaning & use
front foot
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Meanings
nouncountable
The foot of an animal or person that is positioned closer to the front, or the foot of a stance that bears weight forward.
Grammar: Countable; the plural is front feet: the dog raised its front feet.
Patterns
- on its front foot
- the front foot of something
The horse lifted its front foot and pawed at the ground.
In the stance, he put most of his weight on the front foot.
The cat tucked its front foot under its body.
phraseidiominformalBritishfigurative
In a position of attack or advantage, acting with confidence and forcing others to respond, as in on the front foot.
Grammar: Almost always in the phrase on the front foot, which follows be or play.
Patterns
- be on the front foot
- put someone on the front foot
- play on the front foot
The government is on the front foot after the good economic figures.
Our team played on the front foot from the first whistle.
The new advert put the brand firmly on the front foot.
Word forms
| plural | front feet |
|---|
Common combinations
- on the front foot
- The candidate stayed on the front foot throughout the debate.
- play on the front foot
- The batter likes to play on the front foot.
- stay on the front foot
- The company must stay on the front foot against rivals.
- get on the front foot
- We need to get on the front foot with these complaints.
- land on the front foot
- The skater landed on the front foot and kept balance.
Synonyms and how they differ
- on the offensive
- On the offensive is a bit more aggressive and military in tone than on the front foot.
- in control
- In control is plain and suggests the situation is managed, without the active, forward-moving image.
- proactive
- Proactive describes taking action in advance, while on the front foot describes the strong position the action creates.
- ahead
- Ahead says only that you are winning or leading, not that you are acting boldly.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: front foot or back foot?
front foot vs back foot
Being on the back foot means being forced to defend, which is the opposite of being on the front foot.
Practice
After the surprise announcement, the rival firm was forced onto the back foot, while our company stayed ___.
Choose one answer.
Staying in an active, advantaged position is being on the front foot. On the back foot is its opposite and was used for the rival.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “front foot”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.