fourth

American  

[fawrth, fohrth] / fɔrθ, foʊrθ /

adjective

1. next after the third; being the ordinal number for four.

2. being one of four equal parts.

3. Automotive. of, relating to, or operating at the gear transmission ratio at which the drive shaft speed is greater than that of third gear for a given engine crankshaft speed, but not so great as that of fifth gear, if such exists.

   fourth gear.

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noun

• fourths
  plural

1. a fourth part, especially of one (¼).

2. the fourth member of a series.

3. Music.

   1. a tone on the fourth degree from a given tone (counted as the first).

   2. the interval between such tones.

   3. the harmonic combination of such tones.

4. Automotive. fourth gear.

   She downshifted from fifth to fourth as we started up the hill.

5. the Fourth. Independence Day; the Fourth of July.

adverb

1. in the fourth place; fourthly.

fourth British  

/ fɔːθ /

adjective

1. 1. coming after the third in order, position, time, etc. Often written: 4th

   2. ( as noun )

      the fourth in succession

2. denoting the fourth forward ratio of a gearbox in motor vehicles

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noun

1. music

   1. the interval between one note and another four notes away from it counting inclusively along the diatonic scale

   2. one of two notes constituting such an interval in relation to the other See also perfect interval diminished

2. the fourth forward ratio of a gearbox in a motor vehicle

   he changed into fourth as soon as he had passed me

3. a less common word for quarter

adverb

1. after the third person, position, event, etc

1. as the fourth point: linking what follows with the previous statements, as in a speech or argument

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• fourths
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of fourth

First recorded before 950; Middle English fourthe, Old English fēowertha; see four, -th ²

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

fourth fourths

After the matches against Australia, Japan and New Zealand, England will play a fourth Test against an as-yet-undecided southern hemisphere opponent in the play-off finals weekend of the new Nations Championship format.

From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026

Instead, major U.S. equity indexes like the S&P 500 are on track to tally a fourth straight year of double-digit returns.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 2, 2026

With limited visibility into the fourth quarter of the current fiscal year, it is too early to provide meaningful profit guidance for fiscal 2027, Ryanair added.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray completed a 10-yard pass to Hockenson on the play, with the tackle by Campbell and teammate Jimmy Rolder setting up fourth down and 5 yards to go for Minnesota.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

By fourth period, the entire school believed it was meant for Rachel Allan.

From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows

Bolstering the blondies’ trick-or-treat bona fides was the fact that, after sharing them with co-workers, some dropped by asking for seconds, thirds and fourths.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

The Jack Berrys, the Bob Pauls, the Hunt brothers, the Lykes brothers, all of them with juniors or thirds or fourths.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

At meets, Mara racked up prize ribbons: lots of third-places, fourths, fifths, and sixths, the occasional second, the very rare first.

From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2024

"The amount of people with neuropathy in this study, particularly undiagnosed neuropathy, was extraordinarily high with almost three fourths of the study population," Elafros said.

From Science Daily ● May 8, 2024

The chief coughed into his left shoulder, then reached into a coat pocket and pulled out a white piece of paper folded in fourths.

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

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Related Words

• one-fourth
• part
• portion
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