Noun (plural forwards)
- (dialectal or obsolete) Agreement; covenant.
Origin From Middle English, from Old English foreweard (“condition, bargain, agreement, contract, treaty, assurance”), equivalent to fore- + ward (“ward, keeping”). Cognate with Scots forward (“covenant, compact”), Dutch voorwaarde (“condition, terms, proviso, stipulation”). More at fore-, ward.
Adjective (comparative more forward, superlative most forward)
- Toward the front or at the front.
- (finance) Expected in the future.
- The stock price is currently 12 times forward earnings.
- Ready; prompt; strongly inclined; in a bad sense, overready or hasty.
- Advanced beyond the usual degree; advanced for the season.
- The grass is forward, or forward for the season. We have a forward spring.
Usage notes - The superlative forwardmost can be used for the "toward or at the front" sense. There does not appear to be a "forwardmore".
Adverb (comparative further forward, superlative furthest forward)
- Towards the front or from the front.
- The bus driver told everyone standing up to move forward.
- In the usual direction of travel.
- After spending an hour stuck in the mud, we could once again move forward.
- Into the future.
- From this day forward, there will be no more brussels sprouts at the cafeteria.
Verb (third-person singular simple present forwards, present participle forwarding, simple past and past participle forwarded)
- To advance, promote.
- To send (a letter, email etc.) to a third party.
- I'll be glad to forward your mail to you while you're gone.
Noun (plural forwards)
- (rugby) one of the eight players (comprising two props, one hooker, two locks, two flankers and one number eight, collectively known as the pack) whose primary task is to gain and maintain possession of the ball (compare back).
- (soccer) A player on a team in football (soccer) in the row nearest to the opposing team's goal, who are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals.
- (ice hockey) An umbrella term for a centre or winger in ice hockey.
- (basketball) The small forward or power forward position; two frontcourt positions that are taller than guards but shorter than centers.
- (nautical) The front part of a vessel.
- (Internet) An e-mail message that is forwarded to another recipient or recipients; an electronic chain letter.
- common misconstruction of foreword
Origin From Middle English foreward, from Old English foreweard (“forward, inclined to the front, fore, early, former”), from Proto-Germanic *fura- (“fore-”), *warþaz (“turned”), equivalent to fore + -ward. Cognate with Dutch voorwaarts (“forward”), German vorwärts (“forward”).
