forth

¹ American  

[fawrth, fohrth] / fɔrθ, foʊrθ /

adverb

1. onward or outward in place or space; forward.

   to come forth; go forth.

2. onward in time, in order, or in a series.

   from that day forth.

3. out, as from concealment or inaction; into view or consideration.

   The author's true point comes forth midway through the book.

4. away, as from a place or country.

   to journey forth.

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preposition

1. Archaic. out of; forth from.

Forth ² American  

[fawrth, fohrth] / fɔrθ, foʊrθ /

noun

1. Firth of, an arm of the North Sea, in SE Scotland: estuary of Forth River. 48 miles (77 km) long.

2. a river in S central Scotland, flowing E into the Firth of Forth. 116 miles (187 km) long.

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forth ¹ British  

/ fɔːθ /

adverb

1. forward in place, time, order, or degree

2. out, as from concealment, seclusion, or inaction

3. away, as from a place or country

4. and so on; et cetera

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preposition

1. archaic out of; away from

Forth ² British  

/ fɔːθ /

noun

1. an inlet of the North Sea in SE Scotland: spanned by a cantilever railway bridge 1600 m (almost exactly 1 mile) long (1889), and by a road bridge (1964)

2. a river in S Scotland, flowing generally east to the Firth of Forth. Length: about 104 km (65 miles)

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forth Idioms  

1. see and so forth; back and forth; bring forth; hold forth; put forth; set forth.

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Etymology

Origin of forth

before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with German fort; akin to further

Example Sentences

They continued switching back and forth between the options for longer and delayed committing to the more efficient choice.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

Filing confidentially allows a company and the SEC to go back and forth on the listing without disclosing sensitive information until later in the process, when the listing is eventually made public.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

We went back and forth several times until he realized that we lived on Long Island and there was no public transportation for me to get to work.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 30, 2026

Members of the European Parliament on Thursday voted to adopt their position on the trade deal, which was initially reached in July 2025 after months of back and forth between the European Commission and U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

She drew her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms tightly around her shins and rocked back and forth, in rhythm to my spinning.

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff