forward

Universal Words adverb, adjective, verb, noun adverb 1 (also forwards especially in BrE) towards a place or position that is in front: She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. * He took two steps forward. * They ran forward to welcome her. OPPBACK, BACKWARDS 2 towards a good result: We consider this agreement to be an important step forward. * Cutting our costs is the only way forward. * We are not getting any further forward with the discussion. * The project will go forward (= continue) as planned. OPPBACKWARDS 3 towards the future; ahead in time: Looking forward, we hope to expand our operations in several of our overseas branches. * The next scene takes the story forward five years. * (old use) from this day forward 4 earlier; sooner: It was decided to bring the meeting forward two weeks. 5 (technical) in or towards the front part of a ship or plane: The main cabin is situated forward of (= in front of) the mast. seealsoLOOKFORWARD, PUTFORWARD IDIOMS see BACKWARDS, CLOCKn., FOOTn. adjective 1 [onlybeforenoun] directed or moving towards the front: The door opened, blocking his forward movement. * a forward pass (for example in football) * They secured large contracts for the forward delivery (= delivery to the next place) of Russian imports. 2 [onlybeforenoun] (technical) situated in front, especially on a ship, plane or other vehicle: the forward cabins * A bolt may have fallen off the plane's forward door. 3 relating to the future: the forward movement of history * A little forward planning at the outset can save you a lot of expense. * The plans are still no further forward than they were last month. 4 behaving towards sb in a manner which is too confident or too informal: I hope you don't think I'm being too forward. compareBACKWARD verb 1 ~ sth (to sb)