forelock
/ˈfɔː(ɹ)lɒk/
forelock noun: the part of a person's hairstyle which covers the forehead.
Noun (1)
forelock (plural forelocks)
- The part of a person's hairstyle which covers the forehead.
- His fair large front and eye sublime declared
Absolute rule; and hyacinthine locks
Round from his parted forelock manly hung
Clustering, but not beneath his shoulders broad:1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished... - we also will call the infernal guards to cast him into hell.1734, The Koran: Commonly Called the Alkoran of Mohammed, translated by George Sale, Sura 96, Congealed Blood, http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/7440/pg7440-images.html Doth he not know that god...
- His fair large front and eye sublime declared
- The part of a horse's (or similar animal's) mane that lies on its forehead.
- […] the gates themselves slowly parted, there appeared a large horse's head, with a plaited forelock under a decorated yoke, and slowly there rolled into the road a small cart, like those driven by horse-dealers, and higglers.1898, Ivan Turgenev, translated by Constance Garnett, A Lear of the Steppes and Other Stories, New York: Macmillan, page 146
- Even Boxer was vaguely troubled. He set his ears back, shook his forelock several times, and tried hard to marshal his thoughts; but in the end he could not think of anything to say.1945, George Orwell, chapter 5, in Animal Farm
- Synonyms:
- foretop
Noun (2)
forelock (plural forelocks)
Verb
forelock (third-person singular simple present forelocks, present participle forelocking, simple past and past participle forelocked)
- To fix in place with a forelock (wedge)
- At one extremity each pair was firmly connected by a short, massive, iron link, of about two feet in length; and, at its opposite end, a large eye-bolt was driven into each stick, where it was securely forelocked.1835, James Fenimore Cooper, chapter 14, in The Monikins
forelock meaning in Tamil and Kannada
forelock in Tamil
- நெற்றி முடி, முன்னெற்றி முடி, முனுச்சி, முன்குடுமி
forelock in Kannada
- ಮುಂಗುರುಳ್, ಮುಂಗುರುಳು, ಮುಂಗೂದಲ್, ಮುಂಗೂದಲು, ನೆತ್ತಿಗೂದಲು
Examples of forelock in a sentence
- This little boy, still flicking his head to one side between sentences though the long blond forelock that once excused the tic had been cut […]1978, Edmund White, chapter VIII, in Nocturnes for the King of Naples, New York: St. Martin's Press, page 135:
- "[…] And since the terrain is appropriate for achieving that end, there is no reason not to seize Opportunity by the forelock⁵ when it is convenient to do so." […] 5.Part 1 published in 1605, Part 2 in 1615, translated in 2003, Miguel de Cervantes and translated by Edith Grossman, Don Quixote, page 193:
Synonyms of forelock
Forms of forelock
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | forelocks |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | forelocks |
| present participle | forelocking |
| past participle | forelocked |
| past | forelocked |
Origin of forelock
From Middle English *forelock, *forelok, from Old English forelocc, equivalent to fore- + lock.
From Middle English forelok, equivalent to fore- + lock.
Words formed from forelock
Phrases with forelock
Questions about forelock
- What does forelock mean?
- Forelock means the part of a person's hairstyle which covers the forehead.
- What is forelock in Tamil?
- Forelock in Tamil is நெற்றி முடி, முன்னெற்றி முடி, முனுச்சி. See Forelock meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use forelock in a sentence?
- This little boy, still flicking his head to one side between sentences though the long blond forelock that once excused the tic had been cut […]
- What part of speech is forelock?
- Forelock can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce forelock?
- Forelock is pronounced /ˈfɔː(ɹ)lɒk/.
- What is the plural of forelock?
- The plural of forelock is forelocks.
Words near forelock in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: forelock (page history and authors); forelock (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); forelock (Kannada Wiktionary) (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.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-forelock.wav.
Cite this entry: “forelock.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/forelock. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.