four-handed

American  

[fawr-han-did, fohr-] / ˈfɔrˈhæn dɪd, ˈfoʊr- /

Also four-hand

adjective

1. involving four hands or players, as a game at cards.

   Bridge is usually a four-handed game.

2. intended for four hands, as a piece of music for the piano.

3. having four hands, or four feet adapted for use as hands; quadrumanous.

---

four-handed British  

adjective

1. (of a card game) arranged for four players

2. (of a musical composition) written for two performers at the same piano

---

Other Word Forms

• four-handedly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of four-handed

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

four-handed

Early shows celebrated that rough-edges aesthetic, notably a four-handed skit on the English seaside called Put It on Your Head, which McBurney described as “part idiocy, part pantomime, part commedia dell’arte”.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 20, 2016

In particular, the premiere of his four-handed paraphrase of "Powder Her Face."

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2015

Mr. Shorter brought his regular quartet, sometimes augmented by Mr. Hancock, who played four-handed piano sitting on the bench next to Danilo Pérez through the group’s intuitive, nebulous cohesion.

From New York Times ● Aug. 5, 2013

Hancock and Elias engaged in some playful four-handed piano playing as the audience sang and clapped along with the musicians.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 30, 2012

The desire for him passed off as quickly as it had come, and in half-an-hour I was playing a four-handed game at billiards with Mrs. Leigh-Tompkinson as a partner, and two ladies as our opponents.

From Godfrey Marten, Undergraduate by Turley, Charles