forehead

Etymology

From Middle English forhed, forheed, from Old English forehēafod, from Proto-West Germanic *forēhaubid, corresponding to fore- + head. Cognate with Scots foreheid (“forehead”), Dutch voorhoofd (“forehead”), German Vorhaupt (“forehead”), Danish forhoved (“brow; forehead; face”). Compare also West Frisian foarholle (“forehead”), German Low German Vörkopp (“forehead”).

noun

  1. (countable) The part of the face above the eyebrows and below the hairline.
    'This question the Dodo could not answer without a great deal of thought, and it sat for a long time with one finger pressed upon its forehead (the position in which you usually see Shakespeare, in the pictures of him), while the rest waited in silence. At last the Dodo said, ‘everybody has won, and all must have prizes.’' 1865, Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Macmillan
    The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, whilst his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue.[…]. 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess
  2. (uncountable) confidence; audacity; impudence.
  3. The upper part of a mobile phone, above the screen.

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