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.

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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. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for four-leaf clover

There are four photos there of representative presidential candidates.
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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.
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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-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

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four-leaf clover

noun

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Origin of four-leaf clover

Words nearby four-leaf clover

Example sentences from the Web for four-leaf clover

British Dictionary definitions for four-leaf clover

four-leaved clover

noun