to face the music

2 definitions found

to face the music - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Music \Mu"sic\, n. [F. musique, fr. L. musica, Gr. ? (sc. ?),
     any art over which the Muses presided, especially music,
     lyric poetry set and sung to music, fr. ? belonging to Muses
     or fine arts, fr. ? Muse.]
     1. The science and the art of tones, or musical sounds, i.
        e., sounds of higher or lower pitch, begotten of uniform
        and synchronous vibrations, as of a string at various
        degrees of tension; the science of harmonical tones which
        treats of the principles of harmony, or the properties,
        dependences, and relations of tones to each other; the art
        of combining tones in a manner to please the ear.
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     Note: Not all sounds are tones. Sounds may be unmusical and
           yet please the ear. Music deals with tones, and with no
           other sounds. See Tone.
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     2.
        (a) Melody; a rhythmical and otherwise agreeable
            succession of tones.
        (b) Harmony; an accordant combination of simultaneous
            tones.
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     3. The written and printed notation of a musical composition;
        the score.
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     4. Love of music; capacity of enjoying music.
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              The man that hath no music in himself
              Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,
              Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. --Shak.
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     5. (Zool.) A more or less musical sound made by many of the
        lower animals. See Stridulation.
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     Magic music, a game in which a person is guided in finding
        a hidden article, or in doing a specific art required, by
        music which is made more loud or rapid as he approaches
        success, and slower as he recedes. --Tennyson.
  
     Music box. See Musical box, under Musical.
  
     Music hall, a place for public musical entertainments.
  
     Music loft, a gallery for musicians, as in a dancing room
        or a church.
  
     Music of the spheres, the harmony supposed to be produced
        by the accordant movement of the celestial spheres.
  
     Music paper, paper ruled with the musical staff, for the
        use of composers and copyists.
  
     Music pen, a pen for ruling at one time the five lines of
        the musical staff.
  
     Music shell (Zool.), a handsomely colored marine gastropod
        shell (Voluta musica) found in the East Indies; -- so
        called because the color markings often resemble printed
        music. Sometimes applied to other shells similarly marked.
        
  
     To face the music, to meet any disagreeable necessity, such
        as a reprimand for an error or misdeed, without flinching.
        [Colloq. or Slang]
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  Face \Face\ (f[=a]s), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Faced; p. pr. & vb.
     n. Facing.]
     1. To meet in front; to oppose with firmness; to resist, or
        to meet for the purpose of stopping or opposing; to
        confront; to encounter; as, to face an enemy in the field
        of battle.
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              I'll face
              This tempest, and deserve the name of king.
                                                    --Dryden.
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     2. To Confront impudently; to bully.
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              I will neither be facednor braved.    --Shak.
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     3. To stand opposite to; to stand with the face or front
        toward; to front upon; as, the apartments of the general
        faced the park; some of the seats on the train faced
        backward.
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              He gained also with his forces that part of Britain
              which faces Ireland.                  --Milton.
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     4. To cover in front, for ornament, protection, etc.; to put
        a facing upon; as, a building faced with marble.
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     5. To line near the edge, esp. with a different material; as,
        to face the front of a coat, or the bottom of a dress.
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     6. To cover with better, or better appearing, material than
        the mass consists of, for purpose of deception, as the
        surface of a box of tea, a barrel of sugar, etc.
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     7. (Mach.) To make the surface of (anything) flat or smooth;
        to dress the face of (a stone, a casting, etc.); esp., in
        turning, to shape or smooth the flat surface of, as
        distinguished from the cylindrical surface.
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     8. To cause to turn or present a face or front, as in a
        particular direction.
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     To face down, to put down by bold or impudent opposition.
        "He faced men down." --Prior.
  
     To face (a thing) out, to persist boldly or impudently in
        an assertion or in a line of conduct. "That thinks with
        oaths to face the matter out." --Shak.
  
     to face the music to admit error and accept reprimand or
        punishment as a consequence for having failed or having
        done something wrong; to willingly experience an
        unpleasant situation out of a sense of duty or obligation;
        as, as soon as he broke the window with the football,
        Billy knew he would have to face the music.
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