four

American  

[fawr, fohr] / fɔr, foʊr /

noun

• fours
  plural

1. a cardinal number, three plus one.

2. a symbol of this number, 4 or IV or IIII.

3. a set of this many persons or things.

4. a playing card, die face, or half of a domino face with four pips.

5. Jazz. fours, alternate four-bar passages, as played in sequence by different soloists.

   with guitar and piano trading fours.

6. Automotive.

   1. an automobile powered by a four-cylinder engine.

   2. the engine itself.

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adjective

1. amounting to four in number.

idioms

1. on all fours. all fours.

four British  

/ fɔː /

noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one

2. a numeral, 4, IV, etc, representing this number

3. something representing, represented by, or consisting of four units, such as a playing card with four symbols on it

4. Also called: four o'clock.  four hours after noon or midnight

5. cricket

   1. a shot that crosses the boundary after hitting the ground

   2. the four runs scored for such a shot

6. rowing

   1. a racing shell propelled by four oarsmen pulling one oar each, with or without a cox

   2. the crew of such a shell

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determiner

1. 1. amounting to four

      four thousand eggs

      four times

   2. ( as pronoun )

      four are ready

four More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing four

• between you and me and (the four walls)
• on all fours

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fours
  plural

Etymology

Origin of four

before 1000; Middle English four, fower, Old English fēower; cognate with Old High German fior ( German vier ), Gothic fidwor; akin to Latin quattuor, Greek tésseres ( Attic téttares )

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

four fours

Roughly one out of every four of the voters surveyed on those two measures said they were undecided.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

You get six letters that you must turn into as many words of four letters or more as you can; as you create words, you’ll uncover fun little asides and notes.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

Harvey has previously stood in four parliamentary elections, including against prime ministers, and two London mayoral elections.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

S&P 500 companies reported $2.64 trillion of combined net income over the last four quarters, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

“The powers of the four realms are too strong, all the doors open at once. A spirit could be sucked into the wrong Afterlife forever.”

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

It completed a remarkable fightback from MI London, led by Kerr who had not hit a six in The Hundred before this innings, in which she clubbed four alongside five fours.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Dottin then whacked back-to-back fours to keep her side in contention but Nicola Carey held her nerve with six needed off the final ball and Spirit finished 119-8.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

There are also the legions of sponsors and guests, who follow the race from bleachers at the summit and nibble on petits fours while the competition rages in the background.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

“He’s just standing there, you know, on all fours, and he’s got drool coming down,” recalled Peter, 69.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

The dog landed on all fours and held still, head tilted to one side, alert to the abrupt change in Alex’s mood.

From "Eleven" by Tom Rogers