to face the music

from The 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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from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
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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