'To face the music' definitions:

Definition of 'To face the music'

From: GCIDE
  • Music \Mu"sic\, n. [F. musique, fr. L. musica, Gr. ? (sc. ?), any art over which the Muses presided, especially music, lyric poetry set and sung to music, fr. ? belonging to Muses or fine arts, fr. ? Muse.]
  • 1. The science and the art of tones, or musical sounds, i. e., sounds of higher or lower pitch, begotten of uniform and synchronous vibrations, as of a string at various degrees of tension; the science of harmonical tones which treats of the principles of harmony, or the properties, dependences, and relations of tones to each other; the art of combining tones in a manner to please the ear. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Not all sounds are tones. Sounds may be unmusical and yet please the ear. Music deals with tones, and with no other sounds. See Tone. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (a) Melody; a rhythmical and otherwise agreeable succession of tones. (b) Harmony; an accordant combination of simultaneous tones. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. The written and printed notation of a musical composition; the score. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. Love of music; capacity of enjoying music. [1913 Webster]
  • The man that hath no music in himself Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. (Zool.) A more or less musical sound made by many of the lower animals. See Stridulation. [1913 Webster]
  • Magic music, a game in which a person is guided in finding a hidden article, or in doing a specific art required, by music which is made more loud or rapid as he approaches success, and slower as he recedes. --Tennyson.
  • Music box. See Musical box, under Musical.
  • Music hall, a place for public musical entertainments.
  • Music loft, a gallery for musicians, as in a dancing room or a church.
  • Music of the spheres, the harmony supposed to be produced by the accordant movement of the celestial spheres.
  • Music paper, paper ruled with the musical staff, for the use of composers and copyists.
  • Music pen, a pen for ruling at one time the five lines of the musical staff.
  • Music shell (Zool.), a handsomely colored marine gastropod shell (Voluta musica) found in the East Indies; -- so called because the color markings often resemble printed music. Sometimes applied to other shells similarly marked.
  • To face the music, to meet any disagreeable necessity, such as a reprimand for an error or misdeed, without flinching. [Colloq. or Slang] [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'to face the music'

From: GCIDE
  • Face \Face\ (f[=a]s), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Faced; p. pr. & vb. n. Facing.]
  • 1. To meet in front; to oppose with firmness; to resist, or to meet for the purpose of stopping or opposing; to confront; to encounter; as, to face an enemy in the field of battle. [1913 Webster]
  • I'll face This tempest, and deserve the name of king. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. To Confront impudently; to bully. [1913 Webster]
  • I will neither be facednor braved. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. To stand opposite to; to stand with the face or front toward; to front upon; as, the apartments of the general faced the park; some of the seats on the train faced backward. [1913 Webster]
  • He gained also with his forces that part of Britain which faces Ireland. --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To cover in front, for ornament, protection, etc.; to put a facing upon; as, a building faced with marble. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To line near the edge, esp. with a different material; as, to face the front of a coat, or the bottom of a dress. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. To cover with better, or better appearing, material than the mass consists of, for purpose of deception, as the surface of a box of tea, a barrel of sugar, etc. [1913 Webster]
  • 7. (Mach.) To make the surface of (anything) flat or smooth; to dress the face of (a stone, a casting, etc.); esp., in turning, to shape or smooth the flat surface of, as distinguished from the cylindrical surface. [1913 Webster]
  • 8. To cause to turn or present a face or front, as in a particular direction. [1913 Webster]
  • To face down, to put down by bold or impudent opposition. "He faced men down." --Prior.
  • To face (a thing) out, to persist boldly or impudently in an assertion or in a line of conduct. "That thinks with oaths to face the matter out." --Shak.
  • to face the music to admit error and accept reprimand or punishment as a consequence for having failed or having done something wrong; to willingly experience an unpleasant situation out of a sense of duty or obligation; as, as soon as he broke the window with the football, Billy knew he would have to face the music. [1913 Webster +PJC]

Words containing 'To face the music'