Front line

A front line (alternative forms: front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an armed force's personnel and equipment, generally referring to maritime or land forces. When a front (an intentional or unintentional boundary) between opposing sides form, the front line is the area where the armies are engaged in conflict, especially the line of contact between the opposing forces. In a military conflict, then, when facing the front line, you face the enemy.Although the term 'front line' first appeared in the 1520s, it was only in 1842 that it was recorded used in the military sense. Its first use as an adjective was from 1915.In both the naval and land campaigns of World War I, FEBAs, FLOTs and FLETs could often be identified by eye (for example, in France and Belgium, they were defined by opposing defensive trench systems).