Library / English Dictionary

FACE TO FACE

 I. (adverb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Involving close contact; confronting each other

Example:

they spoke face to face

Classified under:

Adverbs

Sense 2

Meaning:

Within each other's presence

Example:

she met the president face-to-face

Synonyms:

face-to-face; face to face

Classified under:

Adverbs

Sense 3

Meaning:

Directly facing each other

Example:

they sat opposite at the table

Synonyms:

face-to-face; face to face; opposite

Classified under:

Adverbs

Credits

 Context examples: 

I was brought face to face with Necessity.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He came out of a thicket and found himself face to face with the slow-witted bird.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He sits day after day in the great Throne Room of his Palace, and even those who wait upon him do not see him face to face.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

Next moment I was face to face with Anderson.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Unfortunately, another bashful person had chosen the same refuge, for, as the curtain fell behind her, she found herself face to face with the 'Laurence boy'.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He glanced from face to face in the absent way of a man who has lost the power of thought and is seeking somewhere to find the thing that will start it going again.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

And besides the operation of this, as a general principle, you may be sure that Miss Fairfax awes Mrs. Elton by her superiority both of mind and manner; and that, face to face, Mrs. Elton treats her with all the respect which she has a claim to.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

I stood face to face with Mr. Peggotty!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

When at last the door opened, both my father and I sprang to our feet, expecting to find ourselves face to face with the greatest living Englishman.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)