Forward | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Fōr'ward or Fōr'wards, adv.

adverb

[A-S. forweard, foreweard, from for, fore, and -weard, -weardes, used in composition to express situation, direction, toward, towards; Ger. vorwärts. See FOR, FORE, and WARD.] Toward a part or place before or in front; onward; in advance; progressively; — opposed to backward.

Fōr'ward, a.

adjective

a. 1. Near or at the fore part; in advance of something else; as, the forward gun in a ship, or the forward ship in a fleet; the forward horse in a team.

Sense 2. Ready; prompt; strongly inclined; in an ill sense, over ready; too hasty.

Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do. Gal. ii. 10.

Nor do we find him forward to be sounded. Shak.

Sense 3. Ardent; eager; earnest; in an ill sense, less reserved or modest than is proper; bold; confident; as, the boy is too forward for his years.

Or lead the forward youth to noble war. Prior.

Sense 4. Advanced beyond the usual degree; advanced for the season; as, the grass or the grain is forward, or forward for the season; we have a forward spring.

The most forward bud Is eaten by the canker ere it blows. Shak.

Fôr'ward, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. FORWARDED; p. pr. & vb. n. FORWARDING.]

To help onward; to advance; to promote; to accelerate; to quicken; to hasten; as, to forward the growth of a plant; to forward one in improvement.
To send forward; to send toward the place of destination; to transmit; as, to forward a letter or dispatches.

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