for|tu|nate|ly /fɔː r tʃʊn I tli/ ADV Fortunately is used to introduce or indicate a statement about an event or situation that is good. □ Fortunately, the weather that winter was reasonably mild. [Also + for ]
for|tune ◆◇◇ /fɔː r tʃuːn/ (fortunes )
1 N‑COUNT You can refer to a large sum of money as a fortune or a small fortune to emphasize how large it is. [EMPHASIS ] □ We had to eat out all the time. It ended up costing a fortune. □ He made a small fortune in the London property boom.
2 N‑COUNT [oft poss N ] Someone who has a fortune has a very large amount of money. □ He made his fortune in car sales. □ He inherited a multi-million-dollar fortune from his inventor mother.
3 N‑UNCOUNT Fortune or good fortune is good luck. Ill fortune is bad luck. □ Government ministers are starting to wonder how long their good fortune can last.
4 N‑PLURAL [with poss] If you talk about someone's fortunes or the fortunes of something, you are talking about the extent to which they are doing well or being successful. □ [+ of ] The electoral fortunes of the party may decline. □ The company had to do something to reverse its sliding fortunes.
5 PHRASE When someone tells your fortune , they tell you what they think will happen to you in the future, which they say is shown, for example, by the lines on your hand.
fo r|tune cookie (fortune cookies ) N‑COUNT A fortune cookie is a sweet, crisp cake which contains a piece of paper which is supposed to say what will happen to you in the future. Fortune cookies are often served in Chinese restaurants.
fo rtune-teller (fortune-tellers ) N‑COUNT A fortune-teller is a person who tells you what they think will happen to you in the future, after looking at something such as the lines on your hand.
for|ty ◆◆◆ /fɔː r ti/ (forties )
1 NUM Forty is the number 40. □ She will be forty next birthday.
2 N‑PLURAL When you talk about the forties , you are referring to numbers between 40 and 49. For example, if you are in your forties , you are aged between 40 and 49. If the temperature is in the forties , the temperature is between 40 and 49 degrees. □ He was a big man in his forties, smartly dressed in a suit and tie.
3 N‑PLURAL The forties is the decade between 1940 and 1949. □ Steel cans were introduced sometime during the forties.
fo|rum /fɔː rəm/ (forums ) N‑COUNT A forum is a place, situation, or group in which people exchange ideas and discuss issues, especially important public issues. □ [+ for ] Members of the council agreed that it still had an important role as a forum for discussion.
for|ward ◆◆◇ /fɔː r wə r d/ (forwards , forwarding , forwarded ) In addition to the uses shown below, forward is also used in phrasal verbs such as 'bring forward' and 'look forward to'. In British English, forwards is often used as an adverb instead of forward in senses 1 , 4 , and 7 . 1 ADV [ADV after v] If you move or look forward , you move or look in a direction that is in front of you. In British English, you can also move or look forwards . □ He came forward with his hand out. 'Mr and Mrs Selby?' he enquired. □ She fell forwards on to her face.
2 ADV [be ADV , ADV after v] Forward means in a position near the front of something such as a building or a vehicle. □ The best seats are in the aisle and as far forward as possible. □ The other car had a 3-inch lower driving seat and had its engine mounted further forward. ● ADJ [ADJ n] Forward is also an adjective. □ Reinforcements were needed to allow more troops to move to forward positions.
3 ADV [usu ADV after v, oft ADV adj] If you say that someone looks forward , you approve of them because they think about what will happen in the future and plan for it. In British English, you can also say that someone looks forwards . [APPROVAL ] □ Now the leadership wants to look forward, and to outline a strategy for the rest of the decade. □ People should forget and look forwards. □ Manchester United has always been a forward-looking club. ● ADJ [ADJ n] Forward is also an adjective. □ The university system requires more forward planning.
4 ADV [ADV after v] If you put a clock or watch forward , you change the time shown on it so that it shows a later time, for example when the time changes to summer time or daylight saving time. □ When we put the clocks forward in March we go into British Summer Time.
5 ADV [from n ADV ] When you are referring to a particular time, if you say that something was true from that time forward , you mean that it became true at that time, and continued to be true afterwards. □ Velazquez's work from that time forward was confined largely to portraits of the royal family.
6 ADV [ADV after v, n ADV ] You use forward to indicate that something progresses or improves. In British English, you can also use forwards . □ And by boosting economic prosperity in Mexico, Canada and the United States, it will help us move forward on issues that concern all of us. □ They just couldn't see any way forward. □ Space scientists and astronomers have taken another step forwards.
7 ADV [ADV after v] If something or someone is put forward , or comes forward , they are suggested or offered as suitable for a particular purpose. □ Over the years several similar theories have been put forward. □ Next month the Commission is to bring forward its first proposals for action. □ He was putting himself forward as a Democrat. □ Investigations have ground to a standstill because no witnesses have come forward.