face to face
130
2.3
- idiom
:
cara a cara
- I wanted to meet you face to face.
- meet face to face
- talk face to face
- a face-to-face interview
They can't talk face to face in in the open.
- They can't talk face to face in in the open.
- Yeah, face to face this close, if not closer.
- You heard Dave mention it coming literally face to face with pride marchers.
- No, no, So we never met face to face, but we talked daily.
- His agent actually didn't meet with him face to face for years and years and years.
- And the team that I lead has given face to face evidence to the House of Lords.
- Build rapport face to face and then convert, right.
- And we would come to each other like this, face to face.
- Some things are better done face to face and some things are better done side by side.
- And that was the last time that I got to spend any time face to face with my daddy.
Examples
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Teens also started spending less time with their friends face to face around that same time.
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I wanted to tell you face to face I'm not crazy.
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No, no, So we never met face to face, but we talked daily.
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Yeah, face to face this close, if not closer.
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I need you come out here so I can talk to you face to face.
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I just think you should come over and we should talk about it face to face.
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I'd like to speak to him face to face.
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William struggles up to meet him and comes face to face with Robert the Bruce.
Fiction book (1995) -
"Ministers, Council Members, my friends," she began, looking from face to face, her voice measured and calm.
Fiction book (1993) -
I wanted to talk to her face to face instead of over the phone.
Synonyms
271
1.6
To be present at a place rather than by phone or online
15
2.7
People are in the same place instead of online
11
3.9
Two people meet and talk directly, without other people or devices
7
2.8
Happens when people sit or stand opposite each other in the same place
1
8.1
Placed so they face each other
Antonyms
How In-Person
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'in person; looking directly at each other' is directly and transparently derived from the two occurrences of 'face' with the preposition 'to' indicating orientation toward one another — literally faces positioned toward faces. This compositional, physical-image-based pattern is common across languages and follows standard English spatial/compositional rules, so a B1 learner who knows the words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
The phrase face to face comes from the simple picture of two people with their faces turned toward each other, looking directly at one another. So it means 'in person' or 'in a direct meeting', when people are together and able to speak face to face.