Fourth of July

American  

noun

1. Independence Day.

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Fourth of July British  

noun

1. Official name: Independence Day.  a holiday in the United States, traditionally celebrated with fireworks: the day of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in 1776

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Fourth of July Cultural  

1. The day on which the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1776; Independence Day.

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Etymology

Origin of Fourth of July

An Americanism dating back to 1770–80

Example Sentences

We decided to do the Fourth of July because it comes with a bunch of shenanigans.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 8, 2026

This season again has each episode dedicated to a single hour during a shift in a Pittsburgh emergency room, and now looks at the chaos that unfolds there during the Fourth of July.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 4, 2026

Every January, millions of us make bold predictions without data, adopt strategies without feedback, and sign up for gym memberships that quietly autodraft until we notice the charge sometime around the Fourth of July.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 30, 2025

She figured she, too, would spend her whole life in this neighborhood, where she — an Independence Day baby — got to spend each birthday marching in the huge Fourth of July Parade.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 17, 2025

On the Fourth of July, one battalion from his First Division paraded past cheering crowds through the streets of Paris.

From "The War to End All Wars: World War I" by Russell Freedman