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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

After the climb is complete, they’re called fourth class midshipmen, not plebes.

From Seattle Times ● May 14, 2024

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

Another black guy, a specialist, fourth class, came over and joined me and Peewee.

From "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers

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

When June at last came and the new fourth-class men began to arrive, Sam felt a new life surge into his soul.

From Captain Jinks, Hero by Beard, Daniel Carter