Chiefly Sc. Obs. [f. FORE- prep. or adv. + GAIN, GAINST. Cf. FORE-AGAIN(ST.] Directly opposite to; also, in the opposite scale to.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, XVI. 555.
| And ay forgane the schippis ay, | |
| As thai salit, thai held thar way. |
1535. Stewart, Cron. Scot. (1856), I. 113.
| Ane messinger wes cuming him forgane, | |
| Wes send that tyme fra king Cassibelan. |
a. 1547. Surrey, Æneid, II. 888.
| Lo in my gate my spouse clasping my feet, | |
| Foregainst his father yong Iulus set. |
1563. Aberdeen Council Reg. (1844), 254. In the Gallowgett of the said burght, on the west syid of the same, forganis the gray freiris place.
1588. A. King, trans. Canisius’ Catech., H vj. Foregainst ye quhilk is placed ye golden nombre of yat ȝere.
1639. Rutherford, Lett., cclxxxix. (1836), II. 188. If ye go to weigh Jesus his sweetness, excellency, glory, and beauty, and lay foregainst him your ounces or drachms of suffering for him, ye shall be straitened two ways.
1709. A. Philp, Lett., 24 Sept., in Dunbar, Social Life (1865), 50–1. There is tuo ships ryding at ankor forgainst this place, and is just nou sending ther boats ashor.
1725. Ramsay, Gentl. Sheph., III. ii.
| The Green-Horn Spoons, Beech-Luggies mingle, | |
| On Skelfs foregainst the Door. |
