fourth
Americanadjective
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next after the third; being the ordinal number for four.
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being one of four equal parts.
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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.
noun
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fourths
plural
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a fourth part, especially of one (¼).
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the fourth member of a series.
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Music.
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a tone on the fourth degree from a given tone (counted as the first).
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the interval between such tones.
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the harmonic combination of such tones.
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Automotive. fourth gear.
She downshifted from fifth to fourth as we started up the hill.
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the Fourth. Independence Day; the Fourth of July.
adverb
adjective
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coming after the third in order, position, time, etc. Often written: 4th
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( as noun )
the fourth in succession
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denoting the fourth forward ratio of a gearbox in motor vehicles
noun
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music
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the interval between one note and another four notes away from it counting inclusively along the diatonic scale
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one of two notes constituting such an interval in relation to the other See also perfect interval diminished
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the fourth forward ratio of a gearbox in a motor vehicle
he changed into fourth as soon as he had passed me
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a less common word for quarter
adverb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of fourth
First recorded before 950; Middle English fourthe, Old English fēowertha; see four, -th 2
Vocabulary lists containing fourth
Measurement and Data
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Spelling Practice 1, Unit 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Horley hit 117 from 86 balls, including 13 boundaries, and put on 131 for the fourth wicket with Finty Trussler.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026
The fourth round allowed the former champion to regain some of the control he’d lost.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
With the help of informants, Ilie, Velicu, Vasile and a fourth Romanian man were apprehended.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
The fourth is an environment that includes warm ocean water, plenty of atmospheric moisture, and relatively weak winds in the middle levels of the atmosphere.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026
That was how to break the fourth wall, wasn’t it?
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
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
About three fourths were women, 70% were white, and the average age at the start was 74.
From Science Daily ● Feb. 11, 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
So many people came back for seconds, thirds and even fourths, executives said at the time, that it cut into profit margins.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2024
He reaches under the straw and pulls out a piece of paper, folded into fourths.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
