four
noun
- playing card
- the number 4 between three and five
- playing card
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L336931 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /foɹ/ / [foːɾ] / [fɔː]
noun
Etymology: PIE word *kʷetwóres Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwṓr Proto-Germanic *fedwōr Proto-West Germanic *feuwar Old English fēower Middle English four English four From Middle English four, from Old English fēower, from Proto-West Germanic *feuwar, from Proto-Germanic *fedwōr, from previous pre-Grimm *petwṓr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwṓr, the neuter form of *kʷetwóres. Doublet of cuatro and quatre. Cognates include Scots fower, Saterland Frisian fjauer, West Frisian fjouwer, Dutch vier, German Low German veer, German vier, Norwegian Bokmål and Danish fire, Swedish fyra, Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌳𐍅𐍉𐍂 (fidwōr) and, more distantly, Latin quattuor (whence Spanish cuatro, French quatre), Ancient Greek τέσσαρες (téssares), Irish ceathair, Welsh pedwar, Armenian չորս (čʻors), Lithuanian keturi, Albanian katër, Sanskrit चतुर् (catur).
- The digit or figure 4; an occurrence thereof.
- Anything measuring four units, as length.
“Do you have any more fours? I want to make this a little taller.”
- Four o'clock.
“Letters to Sheffield are despatched every morning at six, and arrive every afternoon at ten minutes past four.”
“Frederick, I presume, at this late hour of four, may be snatching a morsel of dinner; […]”
- A person who is four years old.
“I'll take the threes, fours and fives and go to the playground.”
- An event in which the batsmen run four times between the wickets or, more often, a batsman hits a ball which bounces on the ground before passing over a boundary, resulting in an award of 4 runs for the batting team. If the ball does not bounce before passing over the boundary, a six is awarded instead.
- A power forward.
- Four-man sweep racing shell, with or without a coxswain.
“The team bought a new four last season.”
- Four-man sweep racing shell, with or without a coxswain.
“Our four won both races.”
- Four-man sweep racing shell, with or without a coxswain.
“We got third place in the varsity four.”
- A four-pennyworth of spirits.
“I was a-strollin' down, thinkin' between ourselves how uncommon handy a four of gin hot would be, when suddenly the glint of a light caught my eye in the window of that same house.”
num
Etymology: PIE word *kʷetwóres Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwṓr Proto-Germanic *fedwōr Proto-West Germanic *feuwar Old English fēower Middle English four English four From Middle English four, from Old English fēower, from Proto-West Germanic *feuwar, from Proto-Germanic *fedwōr, from previous pre-Grimm *petwṓr, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwṓr, the neuter form of *kʷetwóres. Doublet of cuatro and quatre. Cognates include Scots fower, Saterland Frisian fjauer, West Frisian fjouwer, Dutch vier, German Low German veer, German vier, Norwegian Bokmål and Danish fire, Swedish fyra, Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌳𐍅𐍉𐍂 (fidwōr) and, more distantly, Latin quattuor (whence Spanish cuatro, French quatre), Ancient Greek τέσσαρες (téssares), Irish ceathair, Welsh pedwar, Armenian չորս (čʻors), Lithuanian keturi, Albanian katër, Sanskrit चतुर् (catur).
- A numerical value equal to 4; the number after three and before five; two plus two. This many dots (••••)
“There are four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter.”
“Venters began to count them—one—two—three—four—on up to sixteen.”
- Describing a set or group with four elements.