four-handed

American  

[fawr-han-did, fohr-] / ˈfɔrˈhæn dɪd, ˈfoʊr- /

Also four-hand

adjective

1. involving four hands or players, as a game at cards.

   Bridge is usually a four-handed game.

2. intended for four hands, as a piece of music for the piano.

3. having four hands, or four feet adapted for use as hands; quadrumanous.

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four-handed British  

adjective

1. (of a card game) arranged for four players

2. (of a musical composition) written for two performers at the same piano

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Other Word Forms

• four-handedly adverb

Etymology

Origin of four-handed

First recorded in 1765–75

Example Sentences

Early shows celebrated that rough-edges aesthetic, notably a four-handed skit on the English seaside called Put It on Your Head, which McBurney described as “part idiocy, part pantomime, part commedia dell’arte”.

From The Guardian • Sep. 20, 2016

In particular, the premiere of his four-handed paraphrase of "Powder Her Face."

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 4, 2015

Mr. Shorter brought his regular quartet, sometimes augmented by Mr. Hancock, who played four-handed piano sitting on the bench next to Danilo Pérez through the group’s intuitive, nebulous cohesion.

From New York Times • Aug. 5, 2013

Hancock and Elias engaged in some playful four-handed piano playing as the audience sang and clapped along with the musicians.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 30, 2012

Sir William Jones’s essay is substantially a translation of the Bhawishya Purana, in which is given a description of a four-handed game of chess played with dice.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1 "Châtelet" to "Chicago" by Various