four-leaf clover

[ fawr-leef, fohr- ]

/ ˈfɔrˌlif, ˈfoʊr- /

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noun

a clover leaf having four leaflets instead of the usual three, purported to bring good luck.

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

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Origin of four-leaf clover

First recorded in 1840–50

Words nearby four-leaf clover

Fourier series, Fourier's theorem, Fourier transform, four-in-hand, four-lane, four-leaf clover, four-legged, four-letter word, four-letter words, four-masted, Four Modernizations

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

How to use four-leaf clover in a sentence

In the cake put a gold penny, a silver four-leaf clover, and a little image or amulet to drive away bad luck.
Suppers|Paul Pierce
There was a four-leaf clover, somehow mysteriously imbedded in the centre.
The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor|Annie Fellows Johnston
If Mother's eagle eye spotted a four-leaf clover, we stopped and picked it.
If You're Going to Live in the Country|Thomas H. Ormsbee and Richmond Huntley
Again, between the terrace ledge and the forest lies a square of velvet green, abounding in four-leaf clover.
The Place of Honeymoons|Harold MacGrath

He was rather astonished to see Courtlandt kneeling in the clover-patch, hunting for a four-leaf clover.
The Place of Honeymoons|Harold MacGrath

British Dictionary definitions for four-leaf clover

four-leaf clover

four-leaved clover

noun

a clover with four leaves rather than three, supposed to bring good luck

another name for cloverleaf (def. 1)

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