DCHP-2

frontier † DCHP-1 (pre-1967)

• 1 n. — Obs.

  the Canada-United States border.

  • 1766  The Frontier Counties, all along the continent, having been frequently ravaged by the enemy, and greatly impoverished, are able to pay very little tax.
  • 1811  The taking [of] a prisoner has alarmed the frontier extremely, as it is a sure indication of war.

• 2

  the thinly populated regions forming the border between the settled and unsettled parts of the country; a region of pioneer settlement beyond the centres of population.

  • 1838  Our frontier towns, occupying positions on the banks of navigable rivers and lakes, are in a state of utter stagnation.
  • 1841  The legislature, in place of encouraging settlers, by expending the public moneys, on opening roads and lines of communication between the newly surveyed townships and the old frontier settlements, sought only plausible pretensions, to apply them to their own selfish purposes.
  • 1885  An isolated community like that which stretched along the frontier of our Province, cut off from the older and more advanced stages of society . . . could not be expected to keep up with the march of either social or intellectual improvement.
  • 1940  . . . Canada, unlike the United States, still has a frontier.
  • 1960  These two frontier towns were separated by 170 miles of muskeg. . . .

• 3 n.

  the settled, civilized part of the country.

  See also: front, the (def. 1c)  

  • 1862  (1888)  Since that date we have had no communication with the frontier world and now expect none until January.
  • 1907  Prior to 1865, furs at inland posts were made up in packs of ninety pounds for transport to the frontier. . .