%four%

[ formerly, All` four".] All four legs of a quadruped; or the two legs and two arms of a person. [1913 Webster]

To be,
go, or
run,
on all fours (Fig.), to be on the same footing; to correspond (with) exactly; to be alike in all the circumstances to be considered. “This example is on all fours with the other.” “No simile can go on all fours.” Macaulay. [1913 Webster]

a. [ OE. four, fower, feower, AS. feówer; akin to OS. fiwar, D. & G. vier, OHG. fior, Icel. fjōrir, Sw. fyra, Dan. fire, Goth. fidwōr, Russ. chetuire, chetvero, W. pedwar, L. quatuor, Gr. te`ttares, te`ssares, pi`syres, Skr. catur. √302. Cf. Farthing, Firkin, Forty, Cater four, Quater-cousin, Quatuor, Quire of paper, tetrarch. ] One more than three; twice two. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The sum of four units; four units or objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A symbol representing four units, as 4 or iv. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Four things of the same kind, esp. four horses; as, a chariot and four. [ 1913 Webster ]

All fours. See All fours, in the Vocabulary.

{ , n. [ F. ] A tricky fellow; a cheat. [ Obs. ] Evelyn. Denham. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖a. [ F. See Fork. ] (Her.) Having the ends forked or branched, and the ends of the branches terminating abruptly as if cut off; -- said of an ordinary, especially of a cross. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F., dim. of fourche. See Fork. ] 1. A table fork. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Anat.) (a) A small fold of membrane, connecting the labia in the posterior part of the vulva. (b) The wishbone or furculum of birds. (c) The frog of the hoof of the horse and allied animals. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Surg.) An instrument used to raise and support the tongue during the cutting of the frænum. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Glove Making) The forked piece between two adjacent fingers, to which the front and back portions are sewed. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Card Playing) The combination of the card immediately above and the one immediately below a given card. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Having four corners or angles. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Thermodynamics) A four-stroke cycle, as the Otto cycle, for an internal-combustion engine. -- Four"-cy`cle, a. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

n. A machine used in making paper; -- so named from an early inventor of improvements in this class of machinery. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & adv. [ AS. feówerfeold. ] Four times; quadruple; as, a fourfold division. [ 1913 Webster ]

He shall restore the lamb fourfold. 2 Sam. xii. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Four times as many or as much. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make four times as much or as many, as an assessment; to quadruple. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having four feet; quadruped; as, fourfooted beasts. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. ] (Mil.) (a) An ammunition wagon. (b) A French baggage wagon. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Having four hands; quadrumanous. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Requiring four “hands” or players; as, a fourhanded game at cards. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Baseball) A game in which a pitcher allows the opposing team four hits; as, he pitched a four-hitter.
Syn. -- 4-hitter. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The coöperative socialistic system of Charles Fourier, a Frenchman, who recommended the reorganization of society into small communities, living in common.

{ , n. One who adopts the views of Fourier. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Consisting of four horses controlled by one person; as, a four-in-hand team; drawn by four horses driven by one person; as, a four-in-hand coach. -- n. A team of four horses driven by one person; also, a vehicle drawn by such a team. [ 1913 Webster ]

As quaint a four-in-hand
As you shall see. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A long necktie that is tied in a slipknot with one end hanging in front of the other. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. a coach pulled by four horses with one driver.
Syn. -- coach, coach-and-four. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. Having two lanes for traffic in each direction; -- of paved highways. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. One of four children born at the same time; a quadruplet. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Crystallog.) A compound or twin crystal consisting of four individuals. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. ] (Mil.) The chamber of a mine in which the powder is placed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. (Bot.) A plant of the genus Mirabilis. There are about half a dozen species, natives of the warmer parts of America. The common four-o'clock is M. Jalapa. Its flowers are white, yellow, and red, and open toward sunset, or earlier in cloudy weather; hence the name. It is also called marvel of Peru, and afternoon lady. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Zool.) The friar bird; -- so called from its cry, which resembles these words. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. involving four parties.
Syn. -- quadripartite. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. A British silver coin, worth four pence; a groat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A name formerly given in New England to the Spanish half real, a silver coin worth six and a quarter cents. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. having a thickness made up of four layers or strands; as, four-ply yarns. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A large bedstead with tall posts at the corners to support a canopy or curtains. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a cannon that throws a 4-pound shot. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ F., fr. OF. forre. See Forage, n. ] A harbinger. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The product of four times twenty; eighty units or objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Four + core, n. ] Four times twenty; eighty. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. Having four sides.
Syn. -- quadrilateral. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ Four + 2d -some. ] Consisting of four; requiring four participants. [ Scot. or Golf ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. 1. (Golf) A game between four players, with two on each side and each side playing but one ball, the partners striking alternately. It is called a mixed foursome when each side consists of a man and a woman. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A group of four people or objects; as, we need another player to make a foursome for bridge. [ PJC ]

n. A playing card or domino or die whose upward face shows four pips. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Having four sides and four equal angles. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. fourtene, feowertene, AS. feówert&ymacr_;ne, feówertēne. See Four, and Ten, and cf. Forty. ] Four and ten more; twice seven. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The sum of ten and four; forteen units or objects. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A symbol representing fourteen, as 14 or xiv. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. OE. fourtende, fourtethe, AS. feówerteoða. ] 1. Next in order after the thirteenth; as, the fourteenth day of the month. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Making or constituting one of fourteen equal parts into which anything may be divided. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One of fourteen equal parts into which one whole may be divided; the quotient of a unit divided by fourteen. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mus.) The octave of the seventh. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One next after the thirteenth in a series. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ OE. fourthe, ferthe, feorthe, AS. feórða, fr. feówer four. ] 1. Next in order after the third; the ordinal of four. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Forming one of four equal parts into which anything may be divided. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One of four equal parts into which one whole may be divided; the quotient of a unit divided by four. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mus.) The interval of two tones and a semitone, embracing four diatonic degrees of the scale; the subdominant of any key. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One coming next in order after the third. [ 1913 Webster ]

The Fourth, specifically, in the United States, the fourth day of July, the anniversary of the declaration of American independence; as, to celebrate the Fourth. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In the fourth place. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. of or pertaining to the fourth and final year in a U. S. high school or college.
Syn. -- senior(prenominal). [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Allowing passage in either of four directions; as, a four-way cock, or valve. Francis. [ 1913 Webster ]

Four-way cock, a cock connected with four pipes or ports, and having two or more passages in the plug, by which the adjacent pipes or ports may be made to communicate; formerly used as a valve in the steam engine, and now for various other purposes. In the illustration, a leads to the upper end of a steam engine cylinder, and b to the lower end; c is the steam pipe, and d the exhaust pipe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An intersection of two roads having stop signs at all four entry points. The usual rule for such intersections requires that those entering the intersection yield the right of way to vehicles entering before them. [ PJC ]

a. Having four wheels. [ 1913 Webster ]