forward Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the person who plays the position of forward in certain games, such as basketball, soccer, or hockey
  2. noun a position on a basketball, soccer, or hockey team
  3. verb send or ship onward from an intermediate post or station in transit
    send on.
    • forward my mail
  4. adjective at or near or directed toward the front
    • the forward section of the aircraft
    • a forward plunge down the stairs
    • forward motion
  5. adjective used of temperament or behavior; lacking restraint or modesty
    • a forward child badly in need of discipline
  6. adjective of the transmission gear causing forward movement in a motor vehicle
    • in a forward gear
  7. adjective satellite moving forward
    forward-moving; advancing.
  8. adverb at or to or toward the front; (`forrad' and `forrard' are dialectal variations)
    forrad; forwards; forrard; frontwards; frontward.
    • he faced forward
    • step forward
    • she practiced sewing backward as well as frontward on her new sewing machine
  9. adverb forward in time or order or degree
    onward; forth.
    • from that time forth
    • from the sixth century onward
  10. adverb toward the future; forward in time
    ahead.
    • I like to look ahead in imagination to what the future may bring
    • I look forward to seeing you
  11. adverb in a forward direction
    ahead; forwards; onward; onwards; forrader.
    • go ahead
    • the train moved ahead slowly
    • the boat lurched ahead
    • moved onward into the forest
    • they went slowly forward in the mud
  12. adverb near or toward the bow of a ship or cockpit of a plane
    fore.
    • the captain went fore (or forward) to check the instruments

WordNet

For"ward noun
Etymology
OE., fr. AS. foreweard; fore before + weard a ward. See Ward, n.
Definitions
  1. An agreement; a covenant; a promise. Obs.
    Tell us a tale anon, as forward is. Chaucer.
For"ward, For"wards adverb (Also<
  • Forward
  • Forwards
)
Etymology
AS. forweard, foreweard; for, fore + -weardes; akin to G. vorwärts. The s is properly a genitive ending. See For, Fore, and -ward, -wards.
Definitions
  1. Toward a part or place before or in front; onward; in advance; progressively; -- opposed to backward.
For"ward adjective
Definitions
  1. Near, or at the fore part; in advance of something else; as, the forward gun in a ship, or the forward ship in a fleet.
  2. Ready; prompt; strongly inclined; in an ill sense, overready; to hasty.
    Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do. Gal. ii. 10.
    Nor do we find him forward to be sounded. Shak.
  3. Ardent; eager; earnest; in an ill sense, less reserved or modest than is proper; bold; confident; as, the boy is too forward for his years.
    I have known men disagreeably forward from their shyness. T. Arnold.
  4. Advanced beyond the usual degree; advanced for season; as, the grass is forward, or forward for the season; we have a forward spring. the latter sense is now early.
    The most forward bud Is eaten by the canker ere it blow. Shak.
For"ward transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Forwarded; present participle & verbal noun Forwarding
Definitions
  1. To help onward; to advance; to promote; to accelerate; to quicken; to hasten; as, to forward the growth of a plant; to forward one in improvement.
  2. To send forward; to send toward the place of destination; to transmit; as, to forward a letter.

Webster 1913