fore and aft

Related to fore and aft: Fore and aft sail

fore and aft

1. At the front and back of something. This phrase is nautical in origin, referring to the bow (located at the front) and the stern (located at the back) of a ship. We need to change the locks fore and aft, I'm afraid.
2. Everywhere; all over. There are people fore and aft—I'll never be able to find you!
See also: aft, and, fore
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

fore and aft

at the front and the back, usually of a boat or ship. They had to attach new lights fore and aft because the old ones were not bright enough to meet the new regulations. The captain ordered a watch stationed fore and aft.
See also: aft, and, fore
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

fore and aft

Both front and back, everywhere, as in The children clung to the teacher fore and aft. This expression is nautical terminology for the bow, or front, and the stern, or back, of a vessel. Today it is also used more broadly. [First half of 1600s]
See also: aft, and, fore
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
See also:
  • aft
  • take (something) in tow
  • steady as she goes
  • helm
  • at the helm
  • at the helm/tiller
  • bitter end
  • the bitter end
  • be at the helm
  • take the helm
References in periodicals archive
The size of the cargo hold can be estimated by the requirement for tonnage at approximately 12 feet fore and aft between bulkheads (3.66 m).
"At the time, the Langley's arresting gear consisted of wires running fore and aft suspended about 10 inches above the deck," wrote Polmar.
Plywood strips were screwed and bonded to the top outside edge contour of the top deck, as well as the fore and aft of the cockpit.
All will be achieved by lessening the number of cows required to provide nice juicy rump steaks, after a lifetime of each expelling more damaging methane (fore and aft) than a stadium of drunken pop fans.
The company says, along with these new looks, the redesigned headgear features improved ventilation along with fore and aft adjustments for a more individualized fit.
The tray and front pad have greater (fore and aft) depth adjustment and greater height adjustment.
The body is 211mm longer and gets bigger rear doors, a more flexible middle bench seat that now slides fore and aft plus a panoramic fixed sunroof.
The rubber element of Cushyfloat is configured to combine flexibility in the vertical and lateral modes, together with good longitudinal stiffness fore and aft. This, says Trelleborg, offers excellent vibration isolation properties with minimum movement under thrust forces.
This machine comes standard with a front counter weight for greater fore and aft stability.
Armament: Two Bushmaster II 30 mm close-in guns, fore and aft; two Rolling Airframe missile launchers, fore and aft.
The fore and aft sections of the 43,000 dwt vessels will be built at the Damen Shipyards Okean in Ukraine, while the mid-section will be built at the recently acquired Aker Yards Floro shipyard in Norway.
The car's flexibility is also enhanced by the ability to slide the rear bench fore and aft to vary the bias between passenger space and luggage space.
Table speed is controlled in both fore and aft directions by an AC variable-speed drive with a minimum speed of 5 ft/min and maximum speed of 180 ft/min.
All supplies including food were carried on board the boat, stored in watertight containers below the main deck or in the fore and aft cabins.
Plus, there is a new, tiny Micro-Compact 1911, with grip-frame shortened fore and aft to take advantage of the shorter overall length of the .45 GAP cartridge.