| 释义 |
front end
(frʌnt ɛnd; attrib. ˈfrʌntɛnd)
[f. front n. (and a.) + end n.]
1. Electronics. The part of a radio or television receiver to which the aerial signal goes first; esp. the tuner, local oscillator, and mixer of a superheterodyne.
1938G. E. Sterling Radio Man. (ed. 3) iv. 171 Thus improved ‘front end’ selectivity is indicated, and while this can be provided by merely adding more front-end tuned circuits, such a procedure wastes some of the wanted signal. 1956Proc. IRE XLIV. 1871/2 Fig. 30 is a simplified diagram of the uhf front end. 1970J. Earl Tuners & Amplifiers ii. 32 The f.m. front-end determines the noise performance of the tuner and to some extent determines the sensitivity. 1980Philips Technical Rev. XXXIX. 260/1 The function of the receiver front-end is to pick up the 12 GHz signal from space..and to convert it into a signal at a lower frequency which can be subjected to a conversion from the frequency modulation of the satellite signal into the standard television signal.
2. The forward part of a motor vehicle or railway train. colloq.
1954Amer. Speech XXV. 96 Dropped front end, a front-end suspension whereby the front of the vehicle sits lower than..on the ‘stock’ model. 1970Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 12/5 Mediators reported acceptance in principle of a plan to combine the job of firemen with front-end brakemen..on diesel freight locomotives. 1986Truck July 8/2 A new 7·5 tonne front axle..gives very generous front end capacity.
3. Applied attrib. (usu. with hyphen) to money paid or charged at the beginning of a transaction, esp. as front-end charge, front end fee; also, of transactions which involve such arrangements; front-end load(ing), the practice or result of arranging the repayments of a loan so that service charges and other fees relating to the whole period of the loan are recovered in the early payments. orig. U.S.
1962Wall St. Jrnl. 14 May 26/1 Under the so-called ‘front-end load’ system, a mutual fund concentrates its service charges for the entire contractual term into the opening years of the contract. 1970Times 12 Feb. 24/1 He also criticized ‘front-end loading’ in the form of substantial legal, survey and administration fees. 1972Real Estate Rev. Winter 21/1 The reasons for this phenomenal growth were manifold. Chief among them were that..condominium development required minimum front-end capital from the developer. 1977Time 5 Sept. 49/3 Smaller banks rushed to make loans to Turkey because they could charge ‘front-end’ fees of 6% to 10% in addition to high regular interest rates. 1983Times 23 July 13/6 Annual management charges..are between ½ and 1 per cent for the single currency funds. There is no ‘front-end load’. 1985Times 9 Mar. 14 Why pay the five per cent front end charge, plus an annual management charge for something you can do yourself.
4. a. An electronic device or computer system that supplies input or provides access to another device; the part of a computer system that a user deals with directly; spec. (in full front-end processor), a computer that processes or routes input for a central computer, e.g. in a multi-terminal system. Usu. attrib., as front-end machine, front end system, etc.
1971N. Chapin Computers xii. 313 Some subcenters are sufficiently extensive to be substantially free-standing complete computers, as suggested by the names given some types, such as peripheral or front-end processors. 1972Sci. Amer. Sept. 126 The role of the communication-control unit varies with the system. It can act essentially as a computer and perform several functions, including routing commands and messages, checking errors and converting one data format to another. The unit is often called a front-end processor. 1975Nature 16 Oct. 559/2 If that mini can also be connected in to a large mainframe computer as a ‘front-end machine’, then the tasks which can be carried out (particularly ‘number crunching’) can be that much more sophisticated and complex. 1976Proc. 1975 IFAC-IFIP Workshop Real-Time Programming 165/1 The logical restructuring of the network which will accompany the replacement of the existing front-end by a twin-processor Interdata 85 system is described. 1979J. E. Rowley Mechanised In-House Information Syst. i. 66 A minicomputer can be used in any one of the following three modes: a) in a stand-alone system..b) in a front-end system, where the minicomputer exerts control over the communications between several remote terminals and the main frame computer; and c) as part of a network. 1981Electronics 24 Mar. 175/1 Designed primarily as a front-end system for a 32- or 48-channel logic analyzer, it can also operate as a stand-alone emulator. 1981ABA Banking Jrnl. May 61/2 Virtually all major brokers have automated their order entry process. Many have also developed the ability to interface these front-end systems with clearing banks. 1983Austral. Microcomputer Mag. Nov. 45/1 The university computering services centre..has..models from the PDP-11/40 to 11/70 as front ends to the larger processors. 1986Pract. Computing Oct. 107/1 There are no trimmings in the form of a neat front end, and a proper menu and linking arrangement would much improve the package.
b. attrib. (usu. with hyphen). Involving direct computer input by a journalist, cashier, etc., as a work activity otherwise done at a later stage.
1976National Observer (U.S.) 19 June 11/1 Fifty-four U.S. supermarkets now use the UPC technology, which is variously called ‘computer assisted check-out’, ‘electronic front-end check-out’ or ‘front-end automation’. 1979Spectator 27 Oct. 3/1 The critical issue is ‘front-end’ setting, or ‘single-keystroking’, that is whether journalists and advertising clerks should be able to set copy directly, rather than type it for re-setting by a printer. 1980Times 26 June 2/2 The agreement excluded new technology typesetting, known as front-end system, for at least three years.
5. Special Comb.: front end loader, a tractor or haulage vehicle which has a shovelling or loading implement attached to the front; front-end processor: see sense 4 above.
1959C. Ogburn Marauders (1960) iii. 92 Bulldozers, power shovels, earth-movers and front-end loaders. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 8 Mar. 76/3 They had mounted a cutter-bar driven by hydraulic motor, on to a tractor front-end loader. 1969Jane's Freight Containers 1968–69 83/2 Stevedoring contractors' equipment at Port Brownsville includes approximately..14 front end bulk loaders, [etc.]. 1986New Yorker 17 Mar. 55/1 Men ‘muck it out’ with front-end loaders. |