home front
15
4.9
- noun
- /hoʊm frʌnt/
- UK
:
retaguardia
- Many citizens on the home front organized fundraisers to help the military effort during the war.
- war on the home front
- life on the home front
- work on the home front
Chang isn't just losing the war, he's also losing on the home front.
- Chang isn't just losing the war, he's also losing on the home front.
- At times, women hide their apprehension from a family member serving in the Army, painting reassuring pictures of life on the home front.
Examples
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Clothing worn by women on the home front was shaped by wartime conditions.
Academic text (2015) -
I just think the home front should take priority.
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And on the home front, I always had Mom.
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Just having some problems on the home front.
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So how are things on the home front?
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The book contains much information about life on the home front that will be of interest to young people.
Academic text (1997) -
During the war, he had worked on the home front.
Fiction book (1993) -
With men fighting overseas, American women became Rosies, WAVES, and heroes on the home front.
Academic text (2015) -
On the home front during these war years, she displayed remarkable resourcefulness and endurance.
Academic text (2006) -
Although not as glamorously depicted in wartime propaganda, many women expressed their patriotism and sacrifice on the home front.
Academic text (2015)
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is compositionally built from 'home' (the domestic sphere) + 'front' (the line or area of conflict), i.e. the domestic side of wartime activity. This mapping is transparent and cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would very likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Home front comes from wars, where front meant the battle line and home meant the country and houses behind it. That picture of a 'front' at home, with people working and saving to 'support the military', is why it now means the people and activities in a country that help during a war.