four

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 ]

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