face

face¹ W1S1 [feıs] n

↑ear, ↑nose, ↑tooth, ↑eye

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1¦(front of your head)¦

2¦(expression)¦

3 keep a straight face

4 pale-faced/round-faced etc

5 grim-faced/serious-faced etc

6¦(person)¦

7 face to face

8 say something/tell somebody something to their face

9 face down/downwards

10 face up/upwards

11 in the face of something

12 on the face of it

13 the face of something

14¦(mountain/cliff)¦

15¦(clock)¦

16 lose face

17 save face

18 disappear/vanish from/off the face of the earth

19 on the face of the earth

20 somebody's face doesn't fit

21 set your face against something

22¦(mine)¦

23¦(outside surface)¦

24¦(sport)¦

25 in your face

26 get in somebody's face

27 get out of my face

28 what's his face/what's her face

29 put your face on

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[Date: 1200-1300; : Old French; Origin: Latin facies 'form, face', from facere 'to make']

1.) ¦(FRONT OF YOUR HEAD)¦

the front part of your head, where your eyes, nose, and mouth are

▪ She had a beautiful face.

▪ Her face was white with fear.

▪ A big smile spread across his face.

▪ I could see from the look on her face that something was wrong.

▪ I felt like punching him in the face.

2.) ¦(EXPRESSION)¦

an expression on someone's face

▪ the children's happy faces

▪ I'll never forget my father's face - I'd never seen him so upset before.

▪ What's the long face for?

▪ Emma was making faces at me through the window.

▪ Judging from her blank face , I'd say she didn't know what we were talking about.

▪ Mr Neeson came striding towards us with a face like thunder .

▪ David's face lit up when I mentioned her name.

▪ Her face fell and I thought she might burst into tears.

▪ Tom's face darkened and he turned angrily on Sam.

▪ They were glad he was there. He could see it in their faces .

▪ The disappointment was written all over his face .

▪ You should have seen Gary's face when I told him I was resigning.

▪ He had a surprised, slightly puzzled look on his face .

▪ Sally watched him with a smile on her face .

3.) keep a straight face

to not laugh or smile, even though something is funny

4.) pale-faced/round-faced etc

having a face that has a particular shape or colour

▪ a pale-faced youth

→↑red-faced

5.) grim-faced/serious-faced etc

showing a particular expression on your face

▪ Negotiators emerged grim-faced after the day's talks.

→↑barefaced, ↑po-faced, ↑poker-faced, ↑stony-faced

6.) ¦(PERSON)¦

a person

new/different face

(=someone who you have not seen before)

▪ There are a few new faces in class this year.

▪ Gordon Bradley is a familiar face (=someone who you know or have seen many times before) at the Shrewsbury Flower Show.

▪ It's the same old faces (=people who you see often, especially too often) at our meetings every week.

famous/well-known face

(=someone who is famous from television, magazines, films etc)

▪ She looked around at the sea of faces (=lots of people seen together) in the cafeteria.

7.) face to face

a) if two people are standing face to face, they are very close and are looking at each other

meet sb/talk to sb/explain sth etc face to face

(=to meet someone and talk to them, instead of just hearing about them, talking to them on the phone etc)

▪ Actually, I've never met her face to face.

▪ 'You could have just phoned.' 'I wanted to explain things face to face.'

come face to face/find yourself face to face with sb

(=to meet someone, especially in a way that surprises or frightens you)

▪ At that moment he came face to face with Sergeant Burke.

▪ The two men stood face to face without a word.

b) if you come face to face with something difficult, you experience it and have to deal with it

▪ It was the first time he'd ever come face to face with death.

bring sb face to face with sth

▪ Sometimes one is brought face to face with facts which cannot be ignored.

→↑face-to-face

8.) say sth/tell sb sth to their face

if you say something unpleasant to someone's face, you say it to them directly, rather than to other people

▪ I told him to his face just what I thought of him.

9.) face down/downwards

with the face or front towards the ground

▪ Keith was lying face down on the bed.

10.) face up/upwards

with the face or front towards the sky

▪ The body was lying face up in the rain.

11.) in the face of sth

in a situation where there are many problems, difficulties, or dangers

▪ It is amazing how Daniels has survived in the face of such strong opposition from within the party.

12.) on the face of it

used to say that something seems true but that you think there may be other facts about it which are not yet clear

▪ It looks, on the face of it, like a minor change in the regulations.

▪ On the face of it, his suggestion makes sense.

13.) the face of sth

a) the nature or character of an organization, industry, system etc, and the way it appears to people

▪ technology that has changed the face of society

▪ Is this the new face of the Tory party?

the ugly/unacceptable/acceptable face of sth

(=the qualities of an organization, industry etc which people find unacceptable or acceptable)

▪ the unacceptable face of capitalism

b) the general appearance of a particular place

▪ the changing face of the landscape

14.) ¦(MOUNTAIN/CLIFF)¦

the face of a mountain, cliff etc is a steep vertical surface or side

face of

▪ He fell and died while attempting to climb the north face of Mont Blanc.

▪ The cliff face was starting to crumble into the sea.

▪ a sheer (=very steep) rock face

↑date, ↑face, ↑hand, ↑strap

15.) ¦(CLOCK)¦

the front part of a clock or watch, where the numbers and hands are

16.) lose face

if you lose face, you do something which makes you seem weak, stupid etc, and which makes people respect you less

▪ He doesn't want to back down (=accept defeat in an argument) and risk losing face.

17.) save face

if you do something to save face, you do it so that people will not lose their respect for you

▪ Both countries saved face with the compromise.

18.) disappear/vanish from/off the face of the earth

used to say that you have no idea where someone is and have not seen them in a very long time

▪ I haven't seen Paul in ages; he seems to have vanished off the face of the earth.

19.) on the face of the earth

used when you are emphasizing a statement to mean 'in the whole world'

▪ If she was the last woman on the face of the earth, I still wouldn't be interested!

20.) sb's face doesn't fit

used to say that someone will not get or keep a particular job because they are not the kind of person that the employer wants

21.) set your face against sth

especially BrE to be very determined that something should not happen

▪ It is a shame that the local Labour Party has set its face against the scheme.

22.) ¦(MINE)¦

the part of a mine from which coal, stone etc is cut

→↑coalface

23.) ¦(OUTSIDE SURFACE)¦

one of the outside surfaces of an object or building

▪ A cube has six faces.

24.) ¦(SPORT)¦

the part of a ↑racket or ↑bat etc that you use to hit the ball

25.) in your face

in yer face BrE spoken informal behaviour, criticisms, remarks etc that are in your face are very direct and often shocking or surprising

▪ Bingham has a very 'in your face' writing style.

26.) get in sb's face

spoken informal if someone gets in your face, they really annoy you

27.) get out of my face

spoken informal used to tell someone in an impolite way to go away because they are annoying you

28.) what's his face/what's her face

spoken informal used as a way of talking about someone when you cannot remember their name

▪ I saw old what's his face in school yesterday.

29.) put your face on informal

to put ↑make-up on

▪ I just need to run upstairs and put my face on.

→blow up in sb's face at blow up(7), put on a brave face at ↑brave¹ (3), do sth till you're blue in the face at ↑blue¹ (4), have egg on your face at ↑egg¹ (5), ↑face-to-face,fly in the face of at ↑fly¹ (18), laugh in sb's face at ↑laugh¹ (11), long face at ↑long¹ (12), not just a pretty face at ↑pretty² (4), show your face at ↑show¹ (15), shut your face at ↑shut¹ (2), a slap in the face at ↑slap² (2), be staring sb in the face at ↑stare¹ (2), a straight face at ↑straight² (8), wipe sth off the face of the earth at ↑wipe¹ (8), wipe the smile/grin off sb's face at ↑wipe¹ (7), have sth written all over your face at ↑write(10)

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HINT sense 1

Something is on someone's face , not in their face: You've got a mark on your face.

COLLOCATES for sense 2

a long face (=an unhappy expression)

pull/make a face (=change your expression to make people laugh or to show you are angry, disappointed etc)

a blank face (=an expression that shows you do not know or recognize something)

a face like thunder (=a very angry expression)

somebody's face lights up/brightens (=they start to look happy)

somebody's face falls (=they start to look unhappy)

somebody's face darkens (=they start to look angry or threatening)

see something in somebody's face

show in somebody's face

something is written all over somebody's face (=something is obvious from someone's expression)

you should have seen his/her face spoken (=used to say that someone was very angry, surprised etc)

the look/expression on somebody's face

a smile/grin/frown etc on somebody's face

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face ²

face² W1S1 v [T]

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1¦(difficult situation)¦

2¦(admit a problem exists)¦

3 can't face

4¦(talk/deal with somebody)¦

5¦(be opposite)¦

6¦(opponent/team)¦

7 face the music

8¦(building)¦

Phrasal verbs

　face somebody<=>down

　face off

　face up to something

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1.) ¦(DIFFICULT SITUATION)¦

if you face or are faced with a difficult situation, or if a difficult situation faces you, it is going to affect you and you must deal with it

▪ Emergency services are facing additional problems this winter.

▪ The President faces the difficult task of putting the economy back on its feet.

▪ McManus is facing the biggest challenge of his career.

▪ As the project comes to an end, many workers now face an uncertain future .

▪ He must face the prospect of financial ruin.

be faced with sth

▪ I was faced with the awful job of breaking the news to the girl's family.

▪ the difficulties faced by the police

▪ If he is found guilty, he faces up to 12 years in jail.

face charges/prosecution

(=have legal charges brought against you)

▪ He was the first member of the former government to face criminal charges.

2.) ¦(ADMIT A PROBLEM EXISTS)¦ also face up to sth

to accept that a difficult situation or problem exists, even though you would prefer to ignore it

▪ Many couples refuse to face the fact that there are problems in their marriage.

▪ You've got to face facts , Rachel. You can't survive on a salary that low.

▪ He had to face the awful truth that she no longer loved him.

▪ Face it, kid. You're never going to be a rock star.

3.) can't face

if you can't face something, you feel unable to do it because it seems too unpleasant or difficult

▪ I don't want to go back to college - I just can't face it .

▪ I can't face the thought of going into town when it's this hot.

▪ She couldn't face the prospect of another divorce.

can't face doing sth

▪ He couldn't face driving all the way to Los Angeles.

4.) ¦(TALK/DEAL WITH SOMEBODY)¦

to talk or deal with someone, when this is unpleasant or difficult for you

▪ You're going to have to face him sooner or later.

▪ I don't know how I'm going to face her after what happened.

▪ The accident left her feeling depressed and unable to face the world (=be with people and live a normal life) .

5.) ¦(BE OPPOSITE)¦

to be opposite someone or something, or to be looking or pointing in a particular direction

▪ The two men stood facing each other, smiling.

▪ When he turned to face her, he seemed annoyed.

▪ Lunch is served on the terrace facing the sea.

south-facing/west-facing etc

▪ a south-facing garden

face north/east etc

▪ The dining room faces east.

see usage note ↑front¹

6.) ¦(OPPONENT/TEAM)¦

to play against an opponent or team in a game or competition

▪ Martinez will face Robertson in tomorrow's final.

7.) face the music informal

to accept criticism or punishment for something you have done

8.) ¦(BUILDING)¦

be faced with stone/concrete etc

a building that is faced with stone, ↑concrete etc has a layer of that material on its outside surfaces

face down [face sb<=>down] phr v

to deal in a strong and confident way with someone who opposes you

▪ Harrison successfully faced down the mob of angry workers.

face off phr v

to fight, argue, or compete with someone, or to get into a position in which you are ready to do this

▪ The two candidates will face off in a televised debate on Friday.

face up to [face up to sth] phr v

to accept and deal with a difficult fact or problem

▪ They'll never offer you another job; you might as well face up to it .

▪ She had to face up to the fact that he was guilty.

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COLLOCATES for sense 2

face the fact that

face facts

face the truth

(let's) face it spoken (=used when saying something that is hard for someone to accept)

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