fore-handed
UK/fɔːˈhandɪd/
fore-handed adjective: looking to the future; displaying foresight; prudent.
Adjective
fore-handed (comparative more fore-handed, superlative most fore-handed)
- Looking to the future; displaying foresight; prudent.
- His unconscious requirement waas that this also must be reasonable; if it were not, he would accept the portions that were reasonable and reject the others as now too childish for his fore-handed American brain.1964, James Lane Allen, page 105
- The “fore-handed mechanic,” who has the decision to resist the purchase of any coveted article until he has the money to pay for it, finds no trouble, when business reverses come upon a community, in deciding to take in sail while the storm is yet in the distance.1862, The American Phrenological Journal and Life Illustrated, Volumes 35-36, page 51
- Wealthy.
- "You mean to say that because I work hard and get a little fore-handed I ought to take a lot of shiftless folks and teach them to be lazy and dependent on me?"2012, John Habberton, All He Knew A Story, →ISBN
- The young man approaching us, with long temple-locks, cane and other appurtenances of dandyism, is the son of a plain, honest citizen who, as our country friends say, is fore-handed, or well to do in the world1837, Edgar Allan Poe, The Ladies' Companion - Volume 7, page 18
- Executed with a forehand stroke.
- A training device for tactually indicating to a player whether the player's hand has properly gripped the handle of a racket for forehanded play and for backhanded play1987, Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office: Patents, Volume 1085, Issue 1
- Barry's fore-handed strokes were very effective, while Moon's back-handers were at times brilliant.1898, Eton College Chronicle, page 991
- Paid or executed in advance.
- Concurrence in the conclusion that if the law of hypothec be repealed the landlords will resort to fore-handed rents, as a necessary security1869, Great Britain Parliament House of Commons, Reports from Committees, page 269
- People are being sued for rent, and, while legally they may be in arrear, in actual fact they are not in arrear, because they are being sued for fore-handed rent, sometimes as much as a quarter in advance.1932, Great Britain Parliament House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates: Official Report - Volume 267, page iv
- Pertaining to the forequarters of a horse.
- To this tribe we may refer a little fore-handed animal, of the island of Ceylon, which M. Buffon calls the Lori ; very remarkable for the singularity of its figure.1816, Oliver Goldsmith, A history of the earth, and animated nature - Volume 3, page 319
- No matter how lacking he may be in other portions of his contour, this fore-handed formation and action are absolute prerequisites.1883, “The Coach Horse”, in National Live Stock Journal, volume 14, page 193
Adverb
fore-handed (comparative more fore-handed, superlative most fore-handed)
- With a forehand stroke.
- This blow should be given fore-handed, as soon as the colt has quitted the wall.1806, Strickland Freemen, The Art of Horsemanship: Altered and Abbreviated, page 38
- It should be delivered back-handed from the right and fore-handed from the left court.1890, John Moyer Heathcote, Edward Oliver Pleydell-Bouverie, Arthur Campbell Ainger, Tennis, page 224
Examples of fore-handed in a sentence
- “Fore-handed !' Miss Nanny, fore-handed!” said Madam Gamby, plying her shears, which snapped off the cloth very much as their owner did her words.1856, Western Border Life, Or, What Fanny Hunter Saw and Heard in Kanzas [sic] and Missouri, page 174:
- Till, long proceeding on the saving plan, He found himself a warm, fore-handed man1825, Jane Taylor, Essays in rhyme, on morals and manners, page 2:
- However, both fore-handed and back-handed cutting motions were effective for reaping dry wheat, as the stalks partly broke and partly were cut by the blades.1997, Hans Georg K. Gebel, Zeidan Abdel-Kafi Kafafi, Gary Orin Rollefson, The Prehistory of Jordan: Perspectives from 1997, Volume 2, page...
- The fore-handed dinner is a convenient method of cooking a dinner before it is needed, so that less time must be spent in the kitchen at the dinner hour.1932, Mabel Claire, Macy's Cook Book for the Busy Woman: Including a Complete Guide to Kitchen Management, page 194:
Forms of fore-handed
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more fore-handed |
| superlative | most fore-handed |
| alternative form | forehanded |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more fore-handed |
| superlative | most fore-handed |
Words formed from fore-handed
Questions about fore-handed
- What does fore-handed mean?
- Fore-handed means looking to the future; displaying foresight; prudent.
- How do you use fore-handed in a sentence?
- “Fore-handed !' Miss Nanny, fore-handed!” said Madam Gamby, plying her shears, which snapped off the cloth very much as their owner did her words.
- What part of speech is fore-handed?
- Fore-handed can be an adjective or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce fore-handed?
- Fore-handed is pronounced /fɔːˈhandɪd/ (UK).
Words near fore-handed in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: fore-handed (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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