four

[ fawr, fohr ]

/ fɔr, foʊr /

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noun

a cardinal number, three plus one.

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

a set of this many persons or things.

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

fours, Jazz. alternate four-bar passages, as played in sequence by different soloists: with guitar and piano trading fours.

Automotive.

an automobile powered by a four-cylinder engine.
the engine itself.

adjective

amounting to four in number.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about four

on all fours. all fours (def. 3).

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)

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH four

for, fore, four

Words nearby four

Fountains Abbey, Fountain Valley, Fouqué, Fouquet, Fouquier-Tinville, four, four-a-cat, fourbagger, fourball, four-ball match, four-banger

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use four in a sentence

There are four photos there of representative presidential candidates.
Today’s GOP: Still Cool With Racist Pandering?|Michael Tomasky|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Four weeks after the injections, all 20 of the participants had developed the antibodies needed to stave off the infection.
The Race for the Ebola Vaccine|Abby Haglage|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
After four or five months of casual interaction, they realized they both had lost a young parent to cancer.
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone|Samantha Levine|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The injunction, she argued, only applies to these four plaintiffs—not to anyone else.
The Back Alley, Low Blow-Ridden Fight to Stop Gay Marriage in Florida Is Finally Over|Jay Michaelson|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Each CAP, also known as an “orbit,” consists on four aircraft.
Exclusive: U.S. Drone Fleet at ‘Breaking Point,’ Air Force Says|Dave Majumdar|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A little boy of four was moved to passionate grief at the sight of a dead dog taken from a pond.
Children's Ways|James Sully
In cross-section the burrows varied from round (three inches in diameter) to oval (three inches high and four inches wide).
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula|Erwin E. Klaas
Before the spinet a bench was placed about four feet below the keys, and I was put upon the bench.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift
We had six field-pieces, but we only took four, harnessed wit twice the usual number of horses.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
The Seven-score and four on the six middle Bells, the treble leading, and the tenor lying behind every change, makes good Musick.
Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing|Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman

British Dictionary definitions for four

four

/ (fɔː) /

noun

the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one

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

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

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

cricket

a shot that crosses the boundary after hitting the ground
the four runs scored for such a shot

rowing

a racing shell propelled by four oarsmen pulling one oar each, with or without a cox
the crew of such a shell

determiner

amounting to fourfour thousand eggs; four times
(as pronoun)four are ready

Other words from four

Related prefixes: quadri-, tetra-

Word Origin for four

Old English fēower; related to Old Frisian fiūwer, Old Norse fjōrir, Old High German fior, Latin quattuor, Greek tessares, Sanskrit catur

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with four

four

In addition to the idioms beginning with four

four corners of the earth, the

also see:

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

four

Idioms about four

Origin of four

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH four

Words nearby four

Words related to four

How to use four in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for four

Other words from four

Word Origin for four

Other Idioms and Phrases with four