overfront
overfront noun: a false overshirt, jacket, or vest that is attached to the bodice or shirt of a garment.
Noun
overfront (plural overfronts)
- A false overshirt, jacket, or vest that is attached to the bodice or shirt of a garment.
- No 2—Is the Overfront, forming a jacket that opens over the fullness.1887 April, Emily H. May, “Girl's Frock: with Supplement”, in New Peterson's Magazine, volume 91, number 4, page 377
- The straight overfronts and back of the gown were made in Ondine silk , shot blue and faint yellow with an opalescent effect1894, “What to Wear: Chit-Chat on Dress”, in Cassell's Family Magazine
- A decorative wall hanging or dorsal that sits behind the altar and matches the netherfront.
- Or when they had four columns to hold up the overfront and riddells, these were often utilised to carry a taper on each.1904, Essays on Ceremonial, page 7
- It seems quite possible that the 'greater sorte' of silk pictures in particular were intended to adorn an altar, either as an overfront, a netherfront or even a reredos.2016, Sarah Hamilton, Andrew Spicer, Defining the Holy
Verb
overfront (third-person singular simple present overfronts, present participle overfronting, simple past and past participle overfronted)
- To confront; to oppose; to withstand.
- Doubling of the Reere, your battaile will be both lengthened and strengthned , And so by the sudden bringing of these Supplies into the reere, you may not only relieve your owne, but happily overfront your enemy.1643, William Barriffe, Military Discipline: or the Yong Artillery Man, page 72
- When things indifferent shall be set to overfront us under the banners of sin , what wonder if we be routed , and by this art of our adversary fall into the subjection of worst and deadliest offences ?1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC
Forms of overfront
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | overfronts |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | overfronts |
| present participle | overfronting |
| past participle | overfronted |
| past | overfronted |
Origin of overfront
From over- + front.
Questions about overfront
- What does overfront mean?
- Overfront means a false overshirt, jacket, or vest that is attached to the bodice or shirt of a garment.
- What part of speech is overfront?
- Overfront can be a noun or a verb.
- What is the plural of overfront?
- The plural of overfront is overfronts.
Words near overfront in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: overfront (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:
Cite this entry: “overfront.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/overfront. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.