fore-and-aft

[fawr-uh nd-aft, -ahft, fohr-] /ˈfɔr əndˈæft, -ˈɑft, ˈfoʊr-/
adjective
1.
located along or parallel to a line from the stem to the stern.
adverb
2.
fore1 (def 10).
Origin
1610-20

fore1

[fawr, fohr] /fɔr, foʊr/
adjective
1.
situated at or toward the front, as compared with something else.
2.
first in place, time, order, rank, etc.; forward; earlier.
3.
Nautical.
  1. of or pertaining to a foremast.
  2. noting a sail, yard, boom, etc., or any rigging belonging to a fore lower mast or to some upper mast of a foremast.
  3. noting any stay running aft and upward to the head of a fore lower mast or to some specified upper mast of a foremast:
    fore topmast stay.
  4. situated at or toward the bow of a vessel; forward.
adverb
4.
Nautical. at or toward the bow.
5.
forward.
6.
Obsolete, before.
noun
7.
the forepart of anything; front.
8.
the fore, Nautical. the foremast.
preposition, conjunction
9.
Also, 'fore. Informal. before.
Idioms
10.
fore and aft, Nautical. in, at, or to both ends of a ship.
11.
to the fore,
  1. into a conspicuous place or position; to or at the front.
  2. at hand; ready; available.
  3. still alive.
Origin
by construal of fore- as an adj., hence nominalized; fore and aft perhaps as translation of Dutch or Low German; sense “before” (defs 6, 9) perhaps continuation of Middle English, Old English fore in this sense, or as aphetic form of afore
British Dictionary definitions for fore and aft

fore1

/fɔː/
adjective
1.
(usually in combination) located at, in, or towards the front: the forelegs of a horse
noun
2.
the front part
3.
something located at, in, or towards the front
4.
short for foremast
5.
fore and aft, located at or directed towards both ends of a vessel: a fore-and-aft rig
6.
to the fore
  1. to or into the front or conspicuous position
  2. (Scot & Irish) alive or active: is your grandfather still to the fore?
adverb
7.
at or towards a ship's bow
8.
(obsolete) before
preposition, conjunction
9.
a less common word for before
Word Origin
Old English; related to Old Saxon, Old High German fora, Gothic faura, Greek para, Sanskrit pura

fore2

/fɔː/
interjection
1.
(in golf) a warning shout made by a player about to make a shot
Word Origin
C19: probably short for before
Word Origin and History for fore and aft

fore

adv.

Old English fore (prep.) "before, in front of;" (adv.) "before, previously," common Germanic (cf. Old High German fora, Old Frisian fara, German vor, Gothic faiura, Old Norse fyrr "for"); from PIE *pr-, from root *per- (1) "forward, through" (see per).

As a noun, from 1630s. The warning cry in golf is first recorded 1878, probably a contraction of before.

adj.

mid-15c., "forward;" late 15c., "former, earlier;" early 16c., "at the front;" all senses apparently from fore- compounds, which frequently were written as two words in Middle English.

Idioms and Phrases with fore and aft

fore and aft

Both front and back, everywhere, as in The children clung to the teacher fore and aft. This expression is nautical terminology for the bow, or front, and the stern, or back, of a vessel. Today it is also used more broadly. [ First half of 1600s ]

fore

In addition to the idioms beginning with fore fore and aft also see: to the fore