all fours

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noun

all four limbs or extremities; the four legs or feet of an animal or both arms and both legs or both hands and both feet of a person: The cat rolled off the ledge but landed on all fours.

(used with a singular verb)Also called high-low-jack, old sledge, pitch, seven-up. Cards. a game for two or three players or two partnerships in which a 52-card pack is used, the object being to win special scoring values for the highest trump, the lowest trump, the jack, the ace, the ten, and the face cards.

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On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.

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Idioms about all fours

on all fours,

in conformity with; corresponding exactly with.
(of a person) on the hands and feet, or the hands and knees: I had to go on all fours to squeeze through the low opening.

Origin of all fours

First recorded in 1555–65

Words nearby all fours

All Fools' Day, all for, All for Love, All for one and one for all, all for the best, all fours, all gone, all hail, Allhallowmas, Allhallows, Allhallows Eve

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use all fours in a sentence

But along with the cartoon funk is an all-too-real story of police brutality embodied by a horde of evil Pigs.
‘Black Dynamite’ Presents Police Brutality: The Musical|Stereo Williams|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The benefits of incumbency are quite potent, especially in the all-important area of raising campaign funds.
The Unbearable Whiteness of Congress|Dean Obeidallah|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The building used to be an all-girls school, and when it was initially purchased by Fortune it was dilapidated.
His First Day Out Of Jail After 40 Years: Adjusting To Life Outside|Justin Rohrlich|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This led to the formation of a Christian militant group to counter the rebels, and all-out sectarian violence exploded.
The Year’s Most Forgotten Humanitarian Crisis|Nina Strochlic|January 1, 2015|DAILY BEAST

In that context, Sotto Sotto was one of the all-out survivors.
The Fiery Death of Sotto Sotto, Toronto’s Celebrity Hotspot|Shinan Govani|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He had discovered that the all-glorious boast of Spain was not exempt from the infirmities of common men.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4|Jane Porter
Naturally the conversation fell on the all-absorbing topic of the day and the object of his mission.
The Philippine Islands|John Foreman
English influence was all-powerful at Lisbon and the new envoy had not the talent to counteract it.
Napoleon's Marshals|R. P. Dunn-Pattison
Could the government of the country be now carried on upon principles that were all-powerful twenty—or even fewer—years ago?
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
The party left their horses, put black frocks over their armour, and crept forward on all fours like cattle.
King Robert the Bruce|A. F. Murison

British Dictionary definitions for all fours

all fours

noun

both the arms and legs of a person or all the legs of a quadruped (esp in the phrase on all fours)

another name for seven-up

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012