four

American  

[fawr, fohr] / fɔr, foʊr /

noun

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.

---

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

---

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

---

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

Stage three cancers are when a tumour has started to spread locally, stage four is when they have spread to distant organs in the body too.

From BBC

The mayor of the Norwegian town of Longyearbyen—around four hours from Barentsburg by snowmobile—swept his hand over a map of the Arctic Circle on a recent morning.

From The Wall Street Journal

The 2008 report was carried out after the authority received a tip-off about four people who had lived there developing leukaemia.

From BBC

Among those who have flocked to Cootamundra for the weekend are British couple Guy Wilkinson and Lizzie Ellison, both 30, who moved to Sydney two years ago and have driven four hours to compete.

From BBC

They went on to win 36-13 for their second bonus point win in a row, with Jorgensen adding another try to make it four in two games.

From Barron's