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front end
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front end /n./ 1. An intermediary computer that does set-up
and filtering for another (usually more powerful but less friendly)
machine (a `back end'). 2. What you're talking to when you have
a conversation with someone who is making replies without paying
attention. "Look at the dancing elephants!" "Uh-huh." "Do
you know what I just said?" "Sorry, you were talking to the
front end." See also fepped out. 3. Software that provides
an interface to another program `behind' it, which may not be as
user-friendly. Probably from analogy with hardware front-ends (see
sense 1) that interfaced with mainframes.
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