four-in-hand

[fawr-in-hand, fohr-]

noun

a long necktie to be tied in a slipknot with the ends left hanging.
a vehicle drawn by four horses and driven by one person.
a team of four horses.

adjective

of or relating to a four-in-hand.

Origin of four-in-hand

First recorded in 1785–95

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for four-in-hand

Historical Examples of four-in-hand

If ever a woman put her whole mind to a thing, I did on that four-in-hand.
A Woman Tenderfoot
Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson
If you have, then you know the nature of my first lesson in four-in-hand driving.
A Woman Tenderfoot
Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson
But his most notorious attempt of this order, was a four-in-hand of stags.
Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 59, No. 366, April, 1846
Various
Monty Paliser came in for a few, but not for the four-in-hand.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
He took his horses with him, and astonished Europe with a four-in-hand of his own.
Views and Reviews
William Ernest Henley

British Dictionary definitions for four-in-hand

four-in-hand

noun

Also called: tally-ho a road vehicle drawn by four horses and driven by one driver
a four-horse team in a coach or carriage
a long narrow tie formerly worn tied in a flat slipknot with the ends dangling

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