forefront

Etymology

From Middle English forefrount, forfrount, forefronte, equivalent to fore- + front.

noun

1. The leading position or edge.
   That laboratory researches topics at the forefront of technology.
   Today, the pocket calculator is a dying product, a casualty of digitization, which has been relegated to the role of a graphic icon on phone and computer screens rather than an object in its own right, but back in the early 1970s, it was at the forefront of consumer technology. 2012-03-04, Alice Rawsthorn, “Farewell, Pocket Calculator?”, in The New York Times
   It is time the international community faced the reality: we have an unmanageable, unfair, distortionary global tax regime. It is a tax system that is pivotal in creating the increasing inequality that marks most advanced countries today – with America standing out in the forefront and the UK not far behind. 2013-06-07, Joseph Stiglitz, “Globalisation is about taxes too”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 26, page 19
   He said that with the world facing a climate crisis, "it is up to those at the forefront of our industry - like Network Rail - to lead by example". August 9 2023, “Network News: Network Rail under fire for spending thousands of pounds on flights”, in RAIL, number 989, page 15

verb

1. (transitive) To bring to the forefront; to emphasize, or focus on.
   The impact of austerity and economic circumstances were forefronted in the more economically deprived countries of the partner countries (BG, GR) and seen as producing a fateful impact on access to diet and healthy lifestyle options. July 8, 2015, Anne Rogers et al., “Meso level influences on long term condition self-management: stakeholder accounts of commonalities and differences across six European countries”, in BMC Public Health, volume 15, →DOI