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View synonyms for four

four

[ fawr, fohr ]

noun

  1. a cardinal number, three plus one.
  2. a symbol of this number, 4 or IV or IIII.
  3. a set of this many persons or things.
  4. a playing card, die face, or half of a domino face with four pips.
  5. fours, Jazz. alternate four-bar passages, as played in sequence by different soloists:

    with guitar and piano trading fours.

  6. Automotive.
    1. an automobile powered by a four-cylinder engine.
    2. the engine itself.


adjective

  1. amounting to four in number.

four

/ fɔː /

noun

  1. the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
  2. a numeral, 4, IV, etc, representing this number
  3. something representing, represented by, or consisting of four units, such as a playing card with four symbols on it
  4. Also calledfour o'clock four hours after noon or midnight
  5. cricket
    1. a shot that crosses the boundary after hitting the ground
    2. the four runs scored for such a shot
  6. rowing
    1. a racing shell propelled by four oarsmen pulling one oar each, with or without a cox
    2. the crew of such a shell
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


determiner

    1. amounting to four

      four thousand eggs

      four times

    2. ( as pronoun )

      four are ready

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of four1

before 1000; Middle English four, fower, Old English fēower; cognate with Old High German fior ( German vier ), Gothic fidwor; akin to Latin quattuor, Greek tésseres ( Attic téttares )
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Word History and Origins

Origin of four1

Old English fēower ; related to Old Frisian fiūwer , Old Norse fjōrir , Old High German fior , Latin quattuor , Greek tessares , Sanskrit catur
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Idioms and Phrases

More idioms and phrases containing four

  • between you and me and (the four walls)
  • on all fours
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Example Sentences

There are four photos there of representative presidential candidates.

Four weeks after the injections, all 20 of the participants had developed the antibodies needed to stave off the infection.

After four or five months of casual interaction, they realized they both had lost a young parent to cancer.

The injunction, she argued, only applies to these four plaintiffs—not to anyone else.

Each CAP, also known as an “orbit,” consists on four aircraft.

A little boy of four was moved to passionate grief at the sight of a dead dog taken from a pond.

In cross-section the burrows varied from round (three inches in diameter) to oval (three inches high and four inches wide).

Before the spinet a bench was placed about four feet below the keys, and I was put upon the bench.

We had six field-pieces, but we only took four, harnessed wit twice the usual number of horses.

The Seven-score and four on the six middle Bells, the treble leading, and the tenor lying behind every change, makes good Musick.

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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.

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