(forwards, forwarding, forwarded)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
Note: In addition to the uses shown below, 'forward' is also used in phrasal verbs such as 'bring forward' and 'look forward to'. In British English, 'forwards' is often used as an adverb instead of 'forward' in senses 1, 3, and 6.
1.
If you move or look forward, you move or look in a direction that is in front of you. In British English, you can also move or look forwards.
He came forward with his hand out. 'Mr and Mrs Selby?' he enquired...
She fell forwards on to her face...
? backwards
ADV: ADV after v
2.
Forward means in a position near the front of something such as a building or a vehicle.
The best seats are in the aisle and as far forward as possible...
The other car had a 3-inch lower driving seat and had its engine mounted further forward.
ADV: be ADV, ADV after v
•
Forward is also an adjective.
Reinforcements were needed to allow more troops to move to forward positions.
ADJ: ADJ n
3.
If you say that someone looks forward, you approve of them because they think about what will happen in the future and plan for it. In British English, you can also say that someone looks forwards.
Now the leadership wants to look forward, and to outline a strategy for the rest of the century...
People should forget and look forwards...
Manchester United has always been a forward-looking club.
ADV: usu ADV after v, also ADV adj [approval]
•
Forward is also an adjective.
The university system requires more forward planning.
ADJ: ADJ n
4.
If you put a clock or watch forward, you change the time shown on it so that it shows a later time, for example when the time changes to summer time or daylight saving time.
When we put the clocks forward in March we go into British Summer Time.
ADV: ADV after v
5.
When you are referring to a particular time, if you say that something was true from that time forward, you mean that it became true at that time, and continued to be true afterwards.
Velazquez's work from that time forward was confined largely to portraits of the royal family.
= on
ADV: from n ADV
6.
You use forward to indicate that something progresses or improves. In British English, you can also use forwards.
And by boosting economic prosperity in Mexico, Canada and the United States, it will help us move forward on issues that concern all of us...
They just couldn't see any way forward...
Space scientists and astronomers have taken another step forwards.
ADV: ADV after v, n ADV
7.
If something or someone is put forward, or comes forward, they are suggested or offered as suitable for a particular purpose.
Over the years several similar theories have been put forward...
Next month the Commission is to bring forward its first proposals for action...
He was putting himself forward as a Democrat...
Investigations have ground to a standstill because no witnesses have come forward.
ADV: ADV after v
8.
If a letter or message is forwarded to someone, it is sent to the place where they are, after having been sent to a different place earlier.
When he's out on the road, office calls are forwarded to the cellular phone in his truck...
VERB: be V-ed from/to n, also V n, V n from/to n
9.
In football, basketball, or hockey, a forward is a player whose usual position is in the opponents' half of the field, and whose usual job is to attack or score goals.
N-COUNT
10.