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• fourth class
  fourth class

  noun

  (in the U.S. Postal Service) the class of mail consisting of merchandise weighing one pound or more, including parcel post and all first-, second-, or third-class matter weighing 8 ounces (227 grams) or more and not sealed against inspection.
• fourth-class
  fourth-class

  adjective

  of, relating to, or designated as a class next below third, as for mailing, shipping, etc.

fourth class

¹ American  

noun

1. (in the U.S. Postal Service) the class of mail consisting of merchandise weighing one pound or more, including parcel post and all first-, second-, or third-class matter weighing 8 ounces (227 grams) or more and not sealed against inspection.

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fourth-class ² American  

[fawrth-klas, -klahs, fohrth-] / ˈfɔrθˈklæs, -ˈklɑs, ˈfoʊrθ- /

adjective

1. of, relating to, or designated as a class next below third, as for mailing, shipping, etc.

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adverb

1. as fourth-class matter; by fourth-class mail.

   Send it fourth-class.

fourth-class British  

adjective

1. of or relating to mail that is carried at the lowest rate

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adverb

1. by fourth-class mail

Etymology

Origin of fourth class¹

An Americanism dating back to 1860–65

Origin of fourth-class²

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fourth class fourth-class

I was like, ‘Should I do a fourth class?’

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2024

And we were all there in the finest hotels and all the time everything was first class and, you know, in Nebraska, we’re fourth class.

From Slate ● Nov. 13, 2020

“Fashion has its own class system, and this is what I call the fourth class: the youth,” said Colin McDowell, the author of “McDowell’s Directory of 20th Century Fashion.”

From New York Times ● Sep. 5, 2019

“Buy some baggy pants,” a female officer snaps as they go through security for their fourth class in mid-March.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 7, 2016

“Would all members of the student government please report to the auditorium at the start of the fourth class period? Thank you.”

From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen

At the railroad stop, the lover of the downtrodden buys fourth-class tickets so he can be with the peasants, but hours in the drafty, unheated railcar give Tolstoy chills and fever.

From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2018

American magazines arrive a week or two after they’re published in the States, fourth-class mail.

From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2018

It was a fourth-class post office, the smallest.

From The New Yorker ● Aug. 31, 2015

Because most prostate cancers are lackadaisical — the fourth-class mail of their kind.

From New York Times ● Aug. 30, 2010

The department's estimate of the handling cost of fourth-class matter showed a cost of a fraction under 3 cents for the first pound, with an approximate increase of 20 per cent. for each additional pound.

From The Development of Rates of Postage An Historical and Analytical Study by Smith, A. D.