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four - 6 dictionary results

four

  [fawr, fohr]
Use four in a Sentence
–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.
a. an automobile powered by a four-cylinder engine.
b. the engine itself.
–adjective
7. amounting to four in number.
—Idiom
8. on all fours. all fours (def. 3).
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME four, fower, OE fēower; c. OHG fior (G vier), Goth fidwor; akin to L quattuor, Gk tésseres (Attic téttares)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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four   (fôr, fōr)   
n.  
  1. The cardinal number equal to 3 + 1.
  2. The fourth in a set or sequence.
  3. Something having four parts, units, or members, such as a musical quartet or a four-cylinder engine.

[Middle English, from Old English fēower; see kwetwer- in Indo-European roots.]
four adj. & pron.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Four

Four\, a. [OE. four, fower, feower, AS. fe['o]wer; akin to OS. fiwar, D. & G. vier, OHG. fior, Icel. fj?rir, Sw. fyra, Dan. fire, Goth. fidw?r, Russ. chetuire, chetvero, W. pedwar, L. quatuor, Gr. ?, ?, ?, Skr. catur. ? 302. Cf. Farthing, Firkin, Forty, Cater four, Quater-cousin, Quatuor, Quire of paper, tetrarch.] One more than three; twice two.

Four

Four\, n. 1. The sum of four units; four units or objects.

2. A symbol representing four units, as 4 or iv.

3. Four things of the same kind, esp. four horses; as, a chariot and four.

All fours. See All fours, in the Vocabulary.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : four
Spanish: cuatro,
German: die Vier,
Japanese: ４
More Translations »

four 
O.E. feower, from P.Gmc. *petwor- (cf. O.S. fiwar, O.Fris. fiuwer, Frank. fitter-, Du. and Ger. vier, O.N. fjorir, Dan. fire, Sw. fyra), from PIE *qwetwor (cf. Skt. catvarah, Avestan cathwaro, Pers. catvar, Gk. tessares, L. quattuor, Oscan petora, O.C.S. cetyre, Lith. keturi, O.Ir. cethir, Welsh petguar).The phonetic evolution of the Gmc. forms has not been fully explained. Fourteen is O.E. feowertyne. Slang four-eyes "person who wears glasses" first recorded 1874. Four-flusher is 1904, from verb four-flush "to bluff a poker hand, claim a flush with only four cards in the suit" (1896). Four-letter word first attested 1934; four-letter man, however, is recorded from 1923 (as a euphemism for a shit). A four-in-hand (1793) was a carriage with four horses driven by one person; in the sense of "loosely tied necktie" it is attested from 1892. To study The History of the Four Kings (1760, cf. Fr. Livres des Quatre Rois) contains euphemistic slang phrase for "a pack of cards" from the time when card-playing was considered a wicked pastime for students. Slang 4-1-1 is from the telephone number called to get customer information.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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four

In addition to the idioms beginning with four, also see between you and me and (the four walls); on all fours.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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