Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The front stick lying on the andirons in a wood fire.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Front stick of a hearth fire.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The front stick of a fire in a hearth.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

fore- +‎ stick

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word forestick.

Examples

  • These are occasionally brought into higher relief by the white flashes, as the boys throw handfuls of hickory shavings onto the forestick, or punch the back log with the long iron peel, while wishing they had as

    The Old Coast Road From Boston to Plymouth Agnes Rothery

  • Before the forestick had burned in two, she heard him coming, but he was not alone.

    Country Neighbors Alice Brown 1902

  • In the morning a buckeye backlog, a hickory forestick, resting on stones, with a johnny cake on a clean ash board, set before the fire to bake; a frying pan with its long handle resting on a splint-bottom chair, and a teakettle swung from a log pole, with myself setting the table, or turning the meat.

    A Brief History of the United States John Bach McMaster 1892

  • "That 's so every time!" he would say, with a lunge at the forestick.

    The Village Watch-Tower Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin 1889

  • During the winter, when the large back-log, often as much as two men could handle, was brought in and fixed in its place, and a good forestick put on the andirons, with well-split maple piled upon it and set ablaze with dry pine and chips, the old fire-place became aglow with cheerful fire, and dispensed its heat through the room.

    Life in Canada Fifty Years Ago Haight, Canniff, 1825-1901 1885

  • Of a green scrub-ellum forestick with a vicious pair of tongs,

    Riley Farm-Rhymes James Whitcomb Riley 1882

  • Of a green scrub-ellum forestick with a vicious pair of tongs,

    Green Fields and Running Brooks, and Other Poems James Whitcomb Riley 1882

  • They brought in the materials for an old-fashioned fire, backlog, forestick, and crowsticks, and presently seated themselves before a crackling blaze.

    A Country Doctor and Selected Stories and Sketches Sarah Orne Jewett 1879

  • "I believe in young folks makin 'all they can o' theirselves," announced Martin, puffing hard at his pipe and drawing a little farther still from the fireplace, because the scorching red coals had begun to drop beneath the forestick.

    A Country Doctor and Selected Stories and Sketches Sarah Orne Jewett 1879

  • The great oak back-log had required the strength of four men to heave it into its place; and above that lay another log scarcely less in size; while the forestick was no mean bough of the same tree.

    Poganuc People: Their Loves and Lives 1878

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Citation at backlog.

    January 28, 2010