Face Faced I Feɪs Facing Deal Difficult Verb

• she turned and faced him.
• most of the rooms face the sea.
• the terrace faces south.
• a north-facing wall

face

1. to be opposite somebody/something; to have your face or front pointing towards somebody/something or in a particular direction
• See related entries: House location
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/topic/house_location/face_7
• She turned and faced him.
• Most of the rooms face the sea.
• The terrace faces south.
• a north-facing wall
• Stand with your feet apart and your hands facing upwards.
• Which direction are you facing?
2. if you face a particular situation, or it faces you, you have to deal with it
• the problems faced by one-parent families
• The company is facing a financial crisis.
• She's faced with a difficult decision.
3. to accept that a difficult situation exists, although you would prefer not to
• It's not always easy to face the truth.
• She had to face the fact that her life had changed forever.
• Face facts—she isn't coming back.
• Let's face it, we're not going to win.
4. if you can’t face something unpleasant, you feel unable or unwilling to deal with it
• I just can't face work today.
• I can't face seeing them.
5. to talk to or deal with somebody, even though this is difficult or unpleasant
• How can I face Tom? He'll be so disappointed.
6. to cover a surface with another material
• a brick building faced with stone
7. to accept and deal with criticism or punishment for something you have done
• The others all ran off, leaving me to face the music.

Extra Examples

• Face facts —she isn’t coming back.
• I just can’t face work today.
• It’s not always easy to face the truth.
• Let’s face it, we’re not going to win.
• On their journey across the desert they faced danger of all sorts.
• Several students now face expulsion.
• She is faced with a difficult situation.
• The party will have to change its policies to fit the new problems facing society.
• We could all face higher fuel bills this winter.

Verb Forms

• present simple I / you / we / they face
• he / she / it faces
• past simple faced
• past participle faced
• -ing form facing

Word Origin

• Middle English: from Old French, based on Latin facies ‘form, appearance, face’.