FORE

Journey; way; method of proceeding. [Obs.] "Follow him and his fore." Chaucer.

In the part that precedes or goes first; -- opposed to aft, after, back, behind, etc.

Formerly; previously; afore. [Obs. or Colloq.] The eyes, fore duteous, now converted are. Shak.

In or towards the bows of a ship. Fore and aft (Naut.), from stem to stern; lengthwise of the vessel; -- in distinction from athwart. R. H. Dana, Jr. -- Fore-and-aft rigged (Naut.), not rigged with square sails attached to yards, but with sails bent to gaffs or set on stays in the midship line of the vessel. See Schooner, Sloop, Cutter.

Advanced, as compared with something else; toward the front; being or coming first, in time, place, order, or importance; preceding; anterior; antecedent; earlier; forward; -- opposed to Ant: back or Ant: behind; as, the fore part of a garment; the fore part of the day; the fore and of a wagon. The free will of the subject is preserved, while it is directed by the fore purpose of the state. Southey.

In firearms, the wooden stock under the barrel, forward of the trigger guard, or breech frame. -- Fore girth, a girth for the fore part (of a horse, etc.); a martingale. -- Fore hammer, a sledge hammer, working alternately, or in time, with the hand hammer. -- Fore leg, one of the front legs of a quadruped, or multiped, or of a chair, settee, etc. -- Fore peak (Naut.), the angle within a ship's bows; the portion of the hold which is farthest forward. -- Fore piece, a front piece, as the flap in the fore part of a sidesaddle, to guard the rider's dress. -- Fore plane, a carpenter's plane, in size and use between a jack plane and a smoothing plane. Knight. -- Fore reading, previous perusal. [Obs.] Hales. -- Fore rent, in Scotland, rent payable before a crop is gathered. -- Fore sheets (Naut.), the forward portion of a rowboat; the space beyond the front thwart. See Stern sheets. -- Fore shore. (a) A bank in advance of a sea wall, to break the force of the surf. (b) The seaward projecting, slightly inclined portion of a breakwater. Knight. (c) The part of the shore between high and low water marks. -- Fore sight, that one of the two sights of a gun which is near the muzzle. -- Fore tackle (Naut.), the tackle on the foremast of a ship. -- Fore topmast. (Naut.) See Fore-topmast, in the Vocabulary. -- Fore wind, a favorable wind. [Obs.] Sailed on smooth seas, by fore winds borne. Sandys. -- Fore world, the antediluvian world. [R.] Southey.

The front; hence, that which is in front; the future. At the fore (Naut.), at the fore royal masthead; -- said of a flag, so raised as a signal for sailing, etc. -- To the fore. (a) In advance; to the front; to a prominent position; in plain sight; in readiness for use. (b) In existence; alive; not worn out, lost, or spent, as money, etc. [Irish] "While I am to the fore." W. Collins. "How many captains in the regiment had two thousand pounds to the fore" Thackeray.

Before; -- sometimes written 'fore as if a contraction of afore or before. [Obs.]