four, a. and n.
(fɔə(r))
Forms: 1–3 féower, féwer, (2 fure), 2–3 f(o)uwer, 3 feouwer, fowuer, fower, Orm. fowwerr, foo(u)r, fuȝer, fur, south. vor, 3–4 south. vour, 3–7 fowre, foure, (3 fawre, fowr, Orm. fowwre), 4 faur(e, 3– four.
[Com. Teut. and Aryan: OE. féower = OFris. fiuwer, fior, OS. fiwar, fiuwar, fiori (Du. vier), OHG. fior, fier (MHG., mod.Ger. vier), ON. fiórer masc., -ar fem., fiogor neut. (Sw. fyra, Da. fire), Goth. fidwôr. In comb. OE. had a form fyðer-, fiðer-, Anglian feoðor-, -ur; cf. OSw. fiæþer-, Frankish fitter- (Lex Salica), Goth. fidur-. The phonological relation of the Teut. forms to those in other Aryan langs. presents anomalies of which the explanation is still disputed; the OAryan type is *qetwer-, -wō̆r-, qetur- (with other ablaut-variants of somewhat uncertain form), regularly represented by Skr. catvār-, catur-, Gr. τέσσαρες (Dor. τέτορες), L. quattuor, OIrish cethir, OWelsh petguar (mod. Welsh pedwar).]
The cardinal number next after three, represented by the symbols 4 or IV.
A. as adj.
1. a. In concord with the n. expressed.
the four corners, quarters, etc. (of the earth, heavens or world): the remotest parts; see corner n.1 8. the four corners (of a document): the limits or scope of its contents; see corner n.1 1 e. within the four seas: within the boundaries of Great Britain. † of all four sides: entirely, thoroughly.
| a 1000 Crist 879 (Gr.) From feowerum foldan sceatum þam ytemestum eorðan rices englas..blawað byman. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 159 Þas fure kunnes teres boð þe fuwer wateres þa þe beoð ihaten us on to weschen. c 1205 Lay. 5154 Com þa tiðinde to þan feouwer kinggen þat Belin king wes icumen. a 1225 Juliana 9 Þa leaden him i cure up o fowr hweoles. a 1300 Cursor M. 14241 Mari and martha..þai had ben wepand þar four dais. c 1400 Destr. Troy 8808 Þen þos maisters gert make..Fovre lampis full light..all of gold fyne. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon vi. 151 Reynawde is well a noble gentylman of all foure sides. 1533 Wriothesley Chron. (1875) I. 19 A rich canapie of cloath of silver borne over her heade by the fower Lordes of the Portes. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. i. 359 So be it he goeth not out beyond the Foure seas. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 156 They fired four Guns as Signals of Distress. 1886 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Paston Carew iii, He..was the safest confidant to be found within the four seas. 1893 Law Times XCV. 29/2 It may be necessary to look beyond the four corners of the agreement. |
b. four corners, a game: see
quots. Also, in
Horsemanship (see
quot. 1753).
| 1730–36 Bailey (folio), Four-corners [with Horsemen]. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Four-corners, in the manege, or to work upon the four corners, is to divide in imagination the volt or round into four quarters, so that upon each of these quarters, the horse makes a round or two at trot or gallop; and when he has done so upon each quarter, he has made the four corners. 1801 Strutt Sports & Past. iii. vii. 241 Four-corners is so called from four large pins which are placed singly at each angle of a square frame. 1881 in Isle of Wight Gloss. 64 The game of Skittles is also altered from nine pins to four, and is called ‘Four Corners’. |
c. the history of the Four Kings (see
quot.).
| 1760 Foote Minor i. Wks. 1799 I. 241 Come, shall we have a dip in the history of the Four Kings this morning? 1894 Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable s.v., The History of the Four Kings (Livre des Quatre Rois), a pack of cards. |
2. a. With ellipsis of
n., which may usually be supplied from context.
† four for four: in fours.
| c 1205 Lay. 4046 Feowere here weren riche þe haueden ferden muchele. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 938 Þe aungelez..enforsed alle fawre forth at þe ȝatez. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. II. 201 Syne four for four togidder than tha fuir, And sone all aucht. 1611 Bible 2 Sam. xxi. 22 These foure..fell by the hand of Dauid. a 1699 A. Halkett Autobiog. (1875) 53 All Fowre were in the place apointed. |
b. with omission of
hours, as
four o'clock.
| 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 32 (Az vnhappy it waz for the bride) that cam thither too soon, (and yet waz it a four a clok). 1727 Swift To Earl of Oxford Wks. 1755 III. ii. 44, I shall think of that no more, If you'll be sure to come at four. 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 266 The bustle and turmoil of the work grow to a climax at four o'clock. |
c. with omission of
horses.
| 1815 L. Simond Tour Gt. Brit. I. 3 An elegant post-chaise and four stopped at the door. 1858 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 363 As pleasant as a barouche and four. |
† d. In phrases
on (upon, of) all four (
sc. feet or limbs); also
on four or
upon four.
Obs.; now
on all-fours.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1683 He fares forth on alle faure. 1430–40 Lydg. Bochas i. ix. 37 What thyng..Goth fyrst on foure, or els gothe he nought? 1470–85 Malory Arthur ii. xviii, Thenne balan yede on al four feet and handes and put of the helme of his broder. 1611 Bible Lev. xi. 20 All foules that creepe, going vpon all foure, shalbe an abomination vnto you. 1641 Marmion Antiquary i. in Hazl. Dodsley XIII. 431 You'll hardly find..beast that trots sound of all four: There will be some defect. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. (1669) 157 [Babies] will crawl stark naked of all four about the House and into the fields. 1699 Bentley Phal. 128 What a sorry cripled Argument's here, even lame upon all four? 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull ii. iv, I would crawl upon all four to serve you. [1719 De Foe Crusoe 211, I was oblig'd to creep upon all Fours.] 1722 Lett. from Mist's Jrnl. I. 294 An old black Horse, that can scarce crawl upon Four. 1877, 1883 [see all fours phr. 2]. 1909 H. G. Wells Tono-Bungay ii. iii. §2. 191 ‘It's just on all fours with the rest of things,’ he remarked; ‘only more so. You needn't think you're anything out of the way.’ 1931 Economist 8 Aug. 277/1 The railways maintain that conditions in Great Britain and America are not on all fours. 1940 W. S. Churchill Into Battle (1941) 186 It was only natural that the Admiralty, since this war began, should have brought this precedent—although it is not exactly on all fours, and there are some differences—..to the notice of His Majesty's Government. 1961 Ann. Reg. 1960 49 It was impossible to make an agreement exactly on all fours with the Anglo-American bomber base agreement. |
3. Coupled with a higher cardinal or ordinal numeral following, so as to form a compound (cardinal or ordinal) numeral.
| c 1205 Lay. 2092 [Brutus] hæfde þis lond fower and twenti winter on his hond. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. xi. (1495) 421 Amonge foules oonly the rauen hath fowre and syxty chaungynges of voyce. 1579 Fulke Heskins' Parl. 416 The foure and thirtieth Chapter sheweth the vse of the Masse. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. viii, My breath is growing as scant as a broken-winded piper's when he has played for four-and-twenty hours at a penny wedding. |
B. as
n. 1. a. The abstract number four.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 21748 O four and thre qua tels euen, He sal þe numbre mak o seuen. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxviii. (1495) 921 One doo to thre makyth foure. 1837 Whewell Hist. Induct. Sc. (1857) I. 47 Four..was held to be the most perfect number. |
b. The figure (4) denoting this number.
2. A set of four persons or things:
esp. a. A card, domino, or the side of a die marked with four pips or spots; a throw of the die by which the ‘four’ comes uppermost.
b. Card-playing (
Poker). A set of four cards of the same value.
c. A four-oared boat or a crew of four oarsmen.
fours, races for four-oared boats.
d. Cricket, etc. A hit for which four runs are scored.
e. pl. (See
quot. 1888.) Also
in fours (formerly
† in fours and fours), arranged in groups of four;
spec. in
Bibliography used to indicate the number of leaves in a sheet or gathering.
f. The four players of a game,
esp. of Bridge. Also
fig.| a. 1599 Minsheu Sp. Dict., Dial. iii. 26 R. I did lift an Ace.—L. I a foure. 1674 Cotton Gamester vi. 80 The Deuces, Treys, Fours, and Fives. 1728 Swift Jrnl. Mod. Lady Wks. 1755 III. ii. 196 When lady Tricksey play'd a four You took it with a mattadore. 1870 Hardy & Ware Mod. Hoyle 81 Suppose your hand consists of a four, five, and six of spades. |
| b. 1883 Longm. Mag. Sept. 499 Fours, or four [cards] of a kind. 1894 Maskelyne Sharps & Flats 84 If he had been so fortunate as to possess another ace among the cards..he would have a ‘four’. |
| c. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. liv, A Four and two sitters..up with one tide and down with another. 1891 Outdoor Games & Recreat. 137 He must graduate through his college fours, and Torpid races. Ibid. 144 The ‘Coxswainless Fours’, These ‘Fours’..are inter-collegiate races. |
| d. 1836 in ‘Bat’ Cricketer's Man. (1850) 100 Threes, fours, and fives appear as easy for him to get. 1894 A. Lang Ban & Arrière Ban 67 When Oxford's bowling always goes For ‘fours’, for ever to the Cords. |
| e. 1488 in Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. I. 84 Item, a frete or the Quenis oure set with grete perle sett in fouris and fouris. 1888 Jacobi Printers' Voc., Fours, a familiar term used by compositors for ‘quarto’. 1890 H. O. Sommer Malory's Arthur II. Introd. 9 The first part has signatures A to Z..in fours. |
| f. 1895 Kipling Day's Work (1898) 348 Can't I get him to make up a four at tennis with the Hammon girls? 1905 H. A. Vachell Hill vii. 144 Bridge... We could get up a four in this house. 1924 C. Mackenzie Old Men of Sea vii. 113 Cosway was called away to make up a four at bridge. 1971 Times 9 Aug. 4 A four in the East-West bridge game. |
3. Short for:
a. four-shilling beer (see quot).;
b. four-pennyworth (of spirits);
c. (
pl.) four-percents;
d. pl. (in form
fourses). A light meal taken in the fields at four o'clock in the afternoon.
local.
Cf. bever n. 3.
| a. 1633 W. R. Match at Midn. ii. in Hazl. Dodsley XIII. 43 Tim. What is 't, brother? Four or six? Capt. Four or six! 'tis rich Canary... Tim... Now I think on 't, a cup of this is better than our four-shilling beer at home. |
| b. 1869 E. Yates Wrecked in Port xxii. 241 ‘Fours’ of rum, and ‘sixes’ of brandy. 1876 Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly i. 20 The girl..set before him a ‘four’ of brandy and the cold water. |
| c. 1887 Daily News 15 Nov. 5/6 Fully-paid-up stock..in exchange for the converted Fours and Four-and-a-Halfs. |
| d. 1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 132 Foorzes. 1849 [see elevens]. 1887 E. R. Suffling Land of Broads (ed. 2) 266 At 4 p.m., when they have their ‘fourses’. 1895, 1923 [see elevens]. 1953 A. Jobson Household & Country Crafts ii. 28 Another speciality..was the harvest-cake or biscuit, also known as a bever cake... This was a most welcome addition to the ‘fourses’ provided by the farmer's wife for the harvest field. 1966 G. E. Evans Pattern under Plough xv. 154 A substitute harvest horn..did service to summon up the women and children to bring their elevenses and fourses into the harvest field. |
C. attrib. and
Comb. Comb. 1. a. Combined with
ns. forming
adjs., as
four-acre,
four-button,
four-cylinder,
four-day,
four-door,
four-gallon,
four-gun,
four-line,
four-mile,
four-story,
four-year-old.
| 1868 Gladstone Juv. Mundi xi. (1870) 420 A *four-acre field. |
| 1896 Daily News 2 July 8/7 White kids sewn with black..as well as lavender, chiefly in *four-button length. |
| 1902 Westm. Gaz. 8 Sept. 7/3 Quadruple expansion *four⁓cylinder engines of 4,000 horse-power. 1936 Discovery Feb. 37 Improved four-cylinder compound locomotive with poppet-valves and double blast-pipe. |
| 1902 Daily Chron. 1 Sept. 5/2 The half-yearly *four-day closing of the British Museum reading room. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 3 Sept. 12/1 Thus making the first four-day westward voyage. 1935 Discovery Aug. 221/1 The five-day week has already arrived, the four-day week will come and there will be increasing leisure to be employed. 1960 News Chron. 9 Apr. 1/3 Thousands of men stayed away from work..trying..to enforce a four-day week. |
| 1957 P. Frank Seven Days to Never i. 13 A *four-door sedan. |
| 1879 I. L. Bird Rocky Mount. I. 264, I told him to fill up the *four-gallon kettle. |
| 1862 Latham Channel Isl. iii. xvii. (ed. 2) 400 A *four-gun cutter. |
| 1827 Gentl. Mag. XCVII. ii. 501 Underneath this a stave or *four-line verse. |
| 1897 S. L. Hinde Fall of Congo Arabs 115 The whole crowd jumped into the river, here about a hundred yards wide, with a *four-mile current. 1903 Kipling Five Nations 90 From the Four-mile Radius roughly to the plains of Hindustan. |
| 1835 C. F. Hoffman Winter in West I. 95 [In Detroit] there are..many *four-story stores erecting. 1888 A. K. Green Behind Closed Doors vi, A four-story brick building. |
| 1832 Lytton Eugene A. i. v, The *four-year-old mutton..affecting the shape and assuming the adjuncts of venison. 1855 Tennyson Brook 137 ‘That [colt] was the four-year old I sold the Squire.’ |
b. In parasynthetic
adjs. with suffix
-ed2, as
four-barrelled,
four-chambered,
four-columned,
four-decked,
four-faced,
four-fingered,
four-headed,
four-legged,
four-lettered,
four-lined,
four-roomed,
four-sided,
four-snouted,
four-spined,
four-stranded,
four-stringed,
four-tined,
four-toed.
| 1881 Times 15 Jan. 5/6 A high power of firing for a *four-barrelled gun. |
| 1870 Gillmore Reptiles & Birds Introd. 2 The heart is *four-chambered, transmitting venous blood to the lungs. |
| 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) I. 386 We are now poring over all the nothings in a *four-columned news⁓paper. |
| 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxxv, Nothing would suit Nelson but this *four-decked ship. |
| 1878 Gurney Crystallogr. 86 A cube with a low four-sided pyramid on each face..is sometimes called a *four-faced cube. |
| 1802 Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) I. 89 The *four-fingered monkey. |
| 1864 Pusey Lect. Daniel ii. 75 The *four-headed creatures in Ezekiel's vision. |
| 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 402 To guard the magazine i' th' hose From two-legg'd and from *four-legg'd foes. 1778 Hutton in Phil. Trans. LXVIII. 57 The whole being supported by a four-legged stand. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xi, Louise..calling her little four-legged companion, had eagerly followed in the path. |
| 1652 H. C. Looking-Glasse for Ladies 4 That *four-letter'd name, rare and Divine. |
| 1831 Southey Lett. (1856) IV. 214 The poem..is in *four-lined stanzas. |
| 1890 Boldrewood Col. Reformer (1891) 234 A new *four-roomed cottage. |
| 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 26 Of *four-sided Figures. |
| 1647 R. Stapylton Juvenal v. 55 Thou drain'st a foule *four-snouted glasse, that's call'd The Beneventine Cobler. |
| 1836 Yarrell Brit. Fishes I. 83 The *four-spined Stickleback. |
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) U u iij, The middle strand of a *four-stranded rope. |
| 1742 Berkeley Let. to Gervais in Fraser Life viii. (1871) 284 The instrument she desired to be provided was a large *four-stringed bass violin. |
| 1765 Univ. Mag. XXXVII. 33/1 A *four-tined fork. |
| 1872 Baker Nile Tribut. ii. 27 The first time I saw the peculiar *four-toed print of the hippopotamus's foot. |
c. In parasynthetic
ns. with suffix
-er1, as
four-boater,
four-decker,
four-master,
four-year-older.
| 1889 Century Dict., *Four-boater, a whaling-ship carrying four boats on the cranes. |
| 1833 Marryat P. Simple xxxv, She was a *four-decker. |
| 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey i. vii, Any stray *four-year-older not yet sent to bed. |
d. In
advb. sense (
= in four parts) with
pa. pples., as
four-cleft,
four-parted adjs.| 1793 Martyn Lang. Bot., *Four-cleft leaf. Folium quadrifidum. 1846 Dana Zooph. (1848) 139 Mouth prominent, four-cleft within. |
| a 1619 M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. vii. §3 (1622) 264 The *foure-parted Image. 1793 Martyn Lang. Bot., Four-parted leaf. Folium quadripartitum. |
2. Special comb.:
four-ale, (
a) ale sold at four-pence a quart; also
attrib.; (
b) a four-ale bar;
four-ball a., defining a foursome at golf in which four balls are used, the best ball on each side counting at each hole; also
absol.;
four-baller, a golfer playing in a four-ball match;
four-by-two, (
a)
Mil. colloq., the cloth attached to a pull-through; (
b) also, rhyming slang for a Jew;
four-cant (see
quot.;
cf. four-strand);
four-centred arch (
Arch.), one described from four centres;
four-chromatic a. = four-colour adj.;
four-colour a., having, or pertaining to the use of, four colours;
four-colour problem, the as yet unsolved problem of proving as a mathematical theorem that on any plane map only four colours are needed to give different colours to any regions that have a common boundary; hence
four-coloration,
four-colour v. trans.,
four-colouring vbl. n.;
† four-corner a. = next;
four-cornered a., having four corners, square;
four-cornered cap, a college cap or ‘square’; hence
four-cornerwise adv., so as to form four corners;
four-coupled a., having four coupled wheels;
four-course (
Agric.), a four years' course or series of crops in rotation (in
quots. attrib.; see
course n. 24);
four-crossway(s, the place where two roads cross or four roads meet;
four-cycle a. = four-stroke a.;
four-dimensional a. (
Math.), of or belonging to a fourth dimension;
four-dimensioned a., having four dimensions;
† four-double = fourfold a. 1;
† four-eared a. fig., twofold;
four-eyes, (
a) see
quot. 1755; (
b) the name of a fish (see
quot. 1879); (
c)
slang (see
quot. 1874);
† four-fallow v., to fallow fourfold;
four-field course (
Agric.), a series of crops grown in four fields in rotation;
four-figure a., (
a) consisting of four figures,
i.e. a thousand or over (but less than ten thousand), a thousand pounds or over, etc.; (
b) evaluated to or containing four significant figures or four decimal places;
four figures,
i.e. an amount of one thousand pounds or over (whence
four figured adj., that sells for four figures);
four-foil (
Arch.), a quatrefoil;
four-foot (way), the space (really 4 ft. 8½ in.) between the rails on which the train runs;
four-four time Mus., time or rhythm consisting of four crotchets in a bar (also
ellipt.);
four freedoms: see
freedom 4;
four-half (
slang), half ale, half porter, at four-pence a quart;
four-high a., having four rolls one over another, as a rolling-mill (
cf. two-high s.v. two B. IV. 2);
four-horse,
four-horsed adjs., that is drawn by four horses;
four-hours Sc., a light refreshment taken about four o'clock; also
† four hours penny (see
quot. 1651);
four hundred U.S., the highest society of a locality;
four-inch a., that measures four inches, also
ellipt. = four inch rope;
† four-inched a., four inches wide;
four-lane-end(s dial.,
= four-crossways;
four-leaf clover, a rare form of clover leaf having four leaflets, regarded as a lucky charm or sign of good fortune;
cf. four-leaved a.;
four-letter a., consisting of four letters; applied
esp. to any of several monosyllabic English words, referring to the sexual or excretory functions or organs of the human body, that are conventionally excluded from polite use;
four-letter man, an obnoxious person;
† four-millioneer, one who is worth four millions of money;
four-minute mile, a mile run by an athlete in four minutes or less (first achieved by R. Bannister in 1954); hence
four-minute miler, an athlete who performs this feat;
freq. used hyperbolically;
four-nooked a., four-cornered (
obs. exc. dial.);
four-oar, a boat rowed with four oars;
four-oared a., propelled by four oars or oarsmen; also
absol. (
= four-oared boat);
four-part a. (
Music), composed for four parts or voices;
four paws U.S. logging (see
quot. 1905);
four-place a. = four-figure adj. (
b);
four-point assay Chem. (see
quot.);
four-point bearing Naut. (see
quot. 1948);
four-post,
-posted adjs., (of a bedstead) having four posts (to support a canopy and curtains);
four-poster, a four-posted bedstead;
four-pounder, (
a) a gun to carry a four-pound shot; (
b) a loaf four pounds in weight;
four-rowed, (of barley) having four rows of awns;
four-seater, a car with seating accommodation for four people, also
attrib.;
four-shilling a., that costs four shillings (in
quot.,
† of beer, 4
s. the barrel);
four-spot, a four of a suit in cards;
four-star a., designating a (high) rank in a grading system for hotels, etc.,
usu. with four or five grades; also
transf., of a high degree of excellence; also
four-starred adj.;
four-strand, (of a rope) having four strands;
four-tailed bandage (see
quot.);
four thieves' vinegar (see
quot.);
four-tooth (see
quot.);
four-vector Math. [
ad. G.
vierervektor (A. Sommerfeld 1910, in
Ann. d. Physik 4th
Ser. XXXII. 750)], a vector defined by four scalar components,
esp. a space-time vector in the theory of relativity;
four-walled a., having or enclosed within four walls;
four walls, the walls of a room or a house; hence,
allusively, in reference to confinement within the limits of a (small) building;
four-way(s = four-crossways;
four-way a. (in
four-way cock or
four-way valve), having communication with four pipes;
four-winged a., having four wings or wing-like appendages;
four-wings (see
quot.).
| 1883 Daily News 8 Sept. 3/1 Nearly every man seemed to order nothing more mischievous than ‘half-a-pint of *four ale’. 1902 Daily Chron. 23 Sept. 6/7 He had been to a ‘four-ale club’. 1930 Ibid. 6 Nov. 5/7 The man had been in his [public-]house—in the four-ale bar. 1953 Dylan Thomas Under Milk Wood (1954) 2 Night in the four-ale, quiet as a domino. 1966 ‘H. Carmichael’ Suicide Clause vi. 73 A kindred spirit beside me in the four-ale bar. |
| 1904 Westm. Gaz. 25 Mar. 4/1 The players in a *four-ball match. 1909 Ibid. 8 Mar. 12/2 Four-ball foursomes. 1969 Times 25 Sept. 15/1 In the wake of that extraordinary feature of American golf, the four-ball, gang mowers at last got to work on the fairways. |
| 1927 Observer 31 July 15/5 A selfish ‘*four-baller’, intent solely on his own pleasure, has blocked the way. |
| 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 97 *Four by two, the term for the piece of flannel issued as a ‘pull through’ for cleaning a rifle. From its size, four inches by two. 1930 P. Macdonald Link 88 Cross maintains that the oil-bottle and four-by-two must have been to clean the rifle. 1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid vii. 69 That's all right so long as it's not ham... I'm a four-be two, you see. 1968 L. Berg Risinghill 106 It was like the rhyming slang ‘four-by-twos’ for ‘Jews’, used..perhaps with an under⁓tone of lurking contempt. 1970 E. McGirr Death pays Wages iii. 60 ‘This Marx, was he a four by two?’ demanded Quimple. ‘Pardon?’ ‘A Jew, sir, a Jew.’ |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Four-cant, a rope composed of four strands. |
| 1812–16 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art I. 154 Its arch is very often *four-centred, which at once decides its date. |
| 1952 G. A. Dirac in Jrnl. London Math. Soc. XXVII. 85 (title) A property of *4-chromatic graphs and some remarks on critical graphs. 1962 A. Doig tr. Berge's Theory of Graphs xxi. 214 The following theorem which has never yet been proved is known as the four-colour problem: every planar graph is 4-chromatic. 1967 O. Ore Four-Color Probl. xii. 210 This..can be extended..to give a 4-coloration of G. |
| [1879 Cayley in Proc. R. Geogr. Soc. I. 260 The theorem then is, that if an area be partitioned in any manner into areas, these can be, with four colours only, coloured in such wise that in every case two attached areas have distinct colours.] 1879 A. B. Kempe in Amer. Jrnl. Math. II. 200, I will conclude with a theorem... It is one of which I long endeavoured to obtain an independent proof, as a means of solving the *four-colour problem. 1897 P. J. Heawood in Q. Jrnl. Math. XXIX. 270 (title) On the four-colour map theorem. 1931 Everyman's Encycl. IV. 209/1 The early years of the twentieth century have seen many improvements in working the three-colour block process, while in America especially the four-colour process has been developed. 1941 Courant & Robbins What is Math.? v. 247 The four color theorem has indeed been proved for all maps containing less than thirty-eight regions. Ibid., In the four color problem the maps may be drawn either in the plane or on the surface of a sphere. 1963 E. L. Johnson in Calif. Univ. Operations Res. Center Rep. No. 28 (title) A proof of four-coloring the edges of a regular three-degree graph. Ibid. 8 The edges of the reduced graph G1 can be 4-colored. 1967 E. Chambers Photolitho-Offset xv. 236 The demand for colour, especially four-colour half-tone work, either for catalogue or carton use, has brought about the development of four and six-colour machines. 1971 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 8 Jan. 21/4 The best four-colour lithographic printers in the country. |
| 1963 G. A. Dirac in Proc. London Math. Soc. XIII. 195 Theorem 2 establishes the truth of the four-colour conjecture for a new class of planar graphs..and..furnishes a procedure for verifying that a given suitable planar graph is 4-colourable without having to find a *4-colouring for the whole of it. 1967 O. Ore Four-Color Probl. viii. 107 To define a four coloring of the faces in G. |
| 1640–1 Ld. J. Digby Sp. in Ho. Com. 9 Feb. 9 The Lawne sleeves, the *foure corner Cap, the Cope. |
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 175/2 *Fowre corneryd, quadrangulus. 15.. in Strype Parker App. (1711) No. 40 Every Hedde of College..to weare when they goo abrode, longe Gownes..and square or four cornered Capps. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. xv, It [the idol] had..a mouth extended four-cornered, like that of a lion. 1823 Scott Let. to Ld. Montagu 18 June in Lockhart, Think of a vile four cornered house with plantations laid out in scollops. |
| 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts 509 The common kind of this moustrap is made of wood, long, and *foure cornerwise. |
| 1889 Daily News 21 June 6/3 A *four coupled engine drew an excursion train of 13 vehicles. |
| 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 245 By what is termed the *four-course shift, having equal proportions of fallow, barley, clover, peas or beans, and wheat in each year. 1894 Scrivener Fields & Cities 28 This ‘Four-Course’ system, as it is called, produces five entirely different plants, namely, turnips, barley, beans, clover, and wheat. |
| [a 1490 Botoner Itin. (1778) 176 At the crosse yn Baldwyne strete been *iiii crosse wayes metyng.] 1647 W. Browne Polexander i. 48 He came to a foure crosse way. 1842 P. Parley's Ann. III. 288 Do you mean..that your husband was buried in a four-crossways? He must then have killed himself. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 25 Mar. 4/1 It is open to question if a two-cycle engine will ever be produced which will show the same economy of fuel as the *four-cycle. 1924 Times 29 Nov. (Trade & Engin. Suppl.) 250/4 Four-cycle double-acting engines. 1950 Engineering 19 May 577/3 Fuel within this range..can be burnt successfully in four-cycle [diesel] engines. |
| 1880 *Four-dimensional [see dimensional a. 2]. 1886 Myers Phantasms of Living II. 314 Four-dimensional space (if that exists). |
| 1880 Daily News 20 Oct. 5/1 The unfamiliarity of a début in this world to a spirit more at home in *four-dimensioned space. |
| 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters A ij, With a *foure dowble clowte, or with hempen towe steped in the same..do as ye dyde before twyse or thryse a daye. 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 249/2 Wet therin a fourdubble cloth, and applye him theron. 1704 Lond. Gaz. No. 3990/4 A small Gold Chain 4 double fastened to the Watch. |
| 1600 E. Blount Hosp. Incurable Fooles 62 A ridiculous and *foure-eared foole. 1614 Breton I would & I would not lxxxii. Wks. (Grosart) I. 10, I would I were the gallanst Courtizan, That euer put a four-Ear'de Asse to schoole. |
| 1755 T. Amory Mem. (1769) I. 199 Some people have named this bird [the golden eye] the *four-eyes. 1874 Slang Dict., Four eyes, a man or woman who habitually wears spectacles. 1879 J. W. Boddam-Whetham Roraima 130 The little fish known as ‘Four Eyes’, Anableps Tetraophthalmus. |
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. (1586) 22 b, You must not only twyfallow and threefallow your ground, but also *fourfallow it. |
| 1842 Tennyson Audley Court 33 We..discuss'd the farm, The *four-field system, and the price of grain. 1844 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. i. 162 It is usually cropped on the four-field or Norfolk course. |
| 1842 Penny Cycl. XXIII. 499/2 *Four-figure logarithms on a card. 1877 Porcupine 17 Feb. 741/1 The same modest four-figure price. 1968 Fox & Mayers Computing Methods for Scientists & Engineers iii. 51 The fifth digit in our four-figure computation. 1970 Daily Tel. 8 June 4/3 The newcomers should help to send Dame Patricia back to Westminster with a good four-figure majority. |
| 1893 Pall Mall G. 12 Jan. 3/2 The two best yearlings sold for *four figures. |
| 1895 Daily News 7 Jan. 3/4 The total amount of capital invested in these ‘*four-figured’..animals. |
| 1860 Ruskin Mod. Paint. V. vi. iv. 29 The normal of *four-foils is therefore [etc.]. |
| 1896 Daily News 9 Mar. 5/5 The body of the lady, who was lying in the *four-foot. |
| 1826 J. F. Danneley Mus. Gram. (Index) 100 *Four-four time. 1853 C. Engel Pianist's Handbk. 49 The Allemande, in the style of an old German dance, in 4 / 4 time, in moderate movement. 1880 [see compound a. 2 f]. 1959 Listener 5 Feb. 264/2 Alternating bars of five-four and four-four. 1966 Crescendo Dec. 26/1 The time signature 4/4 seems to be at its most productive rhythmically when 12/8 is imposed on it. Ibid., To superimpose 18/8 on to 4/4. |
| 1884 Punch 29 Nov. 257/1 Drinks anything stronger or dearer than ‘*four-half’. |
| 1878 Iron Age 5 Dec. 3/5 The use of Bleckly's *four-high wire mill..has been attended with very satisfactory results. 1928 Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CXVII. 840 The chief object of the four-high mill is to provide an exceedingly rigid working roll of relatively small working diameter. 1958 Times 7 Jan. 14/2 Heavy, medium and light plates all rolled in two 4-high mills. Ibid., The new slabbing mill and the 4-high plate mills. |
| 1765 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. ii. (ed. 2) 254 In a *four-horse plough yoked in pairs. 1842 Dickens Amer. Notes (1850) 91/1 The mail takes the lead in a four-horse wagon. |
| 1382 Wyclif Isa. lxvi. 15 The Lord in fyr shal come, and as a whirlewynd his *foure horsid carres. 1887 Bowen Virg. æneid vi. 587 Borne on his four-horsed chariot..Over the Danaan land. |
| 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 243 We think all is but a little earnest, a *four-hours, a small tasting, that we have..in this life. a 1651 Calderwood Hist. Kirk (1843) II. 125 When the craftsmen were required to assemble..they went to their foure houres pennie. Note, The name of the after⁓noon refreshment of ale [etc.]..taken at four o'clock. 1870 Ramsay Remin v. (ed. 18) 118 When I get my four hours, that will refresh me. |
| 1888 N.Y. Tribune 8 Apr. 5/1 Not all of ‘the *400’ have yet returned from the South. 1948 Coronet Aug. 36/1 To social strivers she is Queen of the 400. |
| 1858 Glenny Gard. Every-day Bk. 254/1 Seedlings..must be pricked off into *four-inch pots. |
| 1840 Marryat Poor Jack xii, Here's a good long piece of *four-inch. |
| 1605 Shakes. Lear iii. iv. 57 To ride..ouer *foure incht Bridges. |
| 1787 Pegge in Archæol. VIII. 203 He being also anathematized, was interred at a *four-lane-end without the city. |
| 1927 Melody Maker June 573/2 Nick Lucas is as good as ever in ‘I'm Looking Over a *Four-Leaf Clover’. 1959 I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. xi. 222 It is not usually considered enough merely to find a lucky object... The only exception seems to be the four-leaf clover, the discovery of which appears to be felt singular enough to be lucky in itself. 1985 N.Y. Times 31 Dec. a11/2 Parcells is superstitious and proud of it, and..he told of a four-leaf clover a dry-cleaner's delivery man had left intentionally in the coach's jacket pocket. |
| 1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 265 Shit,..un type embêtant... L'euph. est *four-letter-man. 1924 J. Sutherland Circle of Stars xxiii. 236 Carter isn't that kind of a four letter man if he does soak. 1927 C. S. Lewis Let. 12 Dec. (1966) 122 Louis the Pious was ‘a man of blameless and virtuous habits’—tho' every other sentence in the chapter makes it clear that he was a four letter man. 1934 Amer. Speech IX. 264/1 The obscene ‘four-letter words’ of the English language are not cant or slang or dialect, but belong to the oldest and best established element in the English vocabulary. Ibid. 267/1 For most people, the bare word forms of these four-letter words have become sexual fetishes. 1935 E. Hemingway Green Hills Africa (1936) ii. iii. 97 Ashamed at having been a four-letter man about books. 1947 A. Huxley Let. 9 Mar. (1969) 568 She would bring him to amorous life again by re-assuming her cockney accent..going very nearly to the point of murmuring four-letter words into his ear. 1960 Times 7 Nov. 17/4 Having regard to the state of current writing, it seems that the prosecution against Lady Chatterley can only have been launched on the ground that the book contained so-called four-letter words. 1962 I. Murdoch Unofficial Rose xvii. 164 Felix regarded Randall as a four-letter man of the first order. 1969 N. Cohn AWopBopaLooBop (1970) xx. 191 He was heckled. Immediately, he exploded in a rash of four-letter words and the curtain came down. |
| 1666–7 Denham Direct. Paint. ii. ix. 14 Find out the Cheats of the *four Millioneer. |
| 1955 T. Sterling Evil of Day iv. 40 These people would believe I was going to die if they saw me running the *four minute mile. 1958 Sunday Times 30 Nov. 38/6 His phenomenal series of four-minute miles. 1963 Listener 31 Jan. 209/2 A 4-minute miler could take 3.6 seconds off his time under the influence of amphetamine. 1969 J. Wainwright Take-Over Men i. 16 He broke the four-minute mile to position her chair. |
| c 1205 Lay. 21999 *Feower noked he is and þer inne is feower kunnes fisc. 1536 Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) I. 286 The mone beand in opposition, quhen it is maist round, apperit suddanly as it war foure nukit. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Four-neuk'd, square or four-cornered. |
| 1844 Ld. Malmesbury Mem. (1884) I. 154 We then returned home in the *four-oar. |
| 1685 Lond. Gaz. No. 2023/4 A six Oared Barge..and a *four Oared Boat. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. liv, If we had seen a four-oared galley going up with the tide. 1870 G. W. Dasent Eventful Life I. 141 Leaving the boat-hook of a four-oared, which I steered. |
| 1664 Pepys Diary (1879) III. 79 We sung..Ravenscroft's *4-part psalms. 1890 E. Prout Counterpoint 143 Four-part counterpoint. |
| 1905 Terms Forestry & Logging 35 Double couplers, two coupling grabs joined by a short cable, used for fastening logs together. Syn.: *four paws. 1957 Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol. ii. 76 Four paws,..used for fastening a skidding chain or cable to large logs. |
| 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIII. 13/1 A *four-place table. 1927 Carey & Grace (title) Four-place mathematical tables with forced decimals. |
| 1940 A. L. Bacharach et al. in Biochem. Jrnl. XXXIV. 1464 The comparison of activity with that of a stable standard preparation..can be done by means of the ‘*four-point assay’; two doses of the standard and two doses of test material are used. |
| 1926 G. Bradford Gloss. Sea Terms 19/1 Bow and beam bearing..is also called a *four point bearing. 1948 R. de Kerchove Internat. Maritime Dict. 278/2 Four-point bearing, the simplest and most commonly used method of determining the distance off a terrestrial object when coasting. The object is observed when it is four points (45°) on the bow and again when it is abeam. |
| 1818 M. G. Lewis Jrnl. W. Ind. (1834) 110, I saw none without a *four-post bedstead and plenty of bedclothes. |
| 1823 Byron Juan vi. xxv, Beds, *Four-posted and silk curtain'd. 1856 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 285, I expect to sleep in my great comfortable four-posted bed. |
| 1836–9 Dickens Sk. Boz (1850) 265/2 His small French bedstead was converted into a regular matrimonial *four-poster. |
| 1684 J. Peter Siege Vienna 109 *Four Pounders. 1854 Mrs. Gaskell North & S. xvii, I ha' gone and bought a four-pounder out o' another baker's shop to common on such days. 1876 Bancroft Hist. U.S. IV. xxv. 573 It was boarded by the provincials, who carried off four four-pounders and twelve swivels. |
| 1882 J. Hardy in Proc. Berw. Nat. Club IX. No. 3. 444 It might have been once used for husking big, or *four-rowed barley. |
| 1909 Westm. Gaz. 16 Nov. 4/2 The famous 15-h.p. *four-seater touring-car. 1922 Times 20 June 8/5 The increased convenience and comfort of a four-seater. |
| 1633 *Four-shilling [see B. 3 a] |
| 1878 B. F. Taylor Between Gates 193 We are a *four-spot of dirty spades. 1920 C. E. Mulford J. Nelson x. 100 I'm layin' down as fine a pair of four-spots as I've ever held. |
| 1921 Automobile Assoc. Ann. Rep. 4 Upwards of 2,000 firms carry the official appointment of the Association. During the past year the work of inspecting and appointing, on a ‘*four-star’ classification basis, has continued. 1952 E. Grierson Reputation for Song xvii. 138 The ‘Golden Fleece’..was a four-star hotel. 1958 K. Amis I like it Here xiii. 155 A four-star monastery with chanting and flagellation. 1959 Sunday Express 21 June 6/6 Oscar Heinrich's life is four-star reading for anyone who [etc.]. 1968 Listener 1 Aug. 159/1 No one has ever shown that a car which will run happily, without pinking, on, say, four-star petrol will run any better—faster, or more economically—on five-star. 1970 Daily Tel. 30 June 3/1 Ladbroke's, the bookmakers, announced yesterday that they are going to build a four-star hotel in the centre of Leeds. |
| 1950 A. Christie Murder is Announced viii. 85 George, it's my own particular, one and only, *four starred Pussy. The super Pussy of all old Pussies. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v. Ropes, *Four-strand is..laid with four strands, and a core scarcely twisted. |
| 1844 Hoblyn Med. Dict. (ed. 2), *Four-tailed bandage, a bandage for the forehead, face and jaws. |
| 1868 Paxton's Bot. Dict., *Four thieves' vinegar, a preparation from Rosmarinus officinalis. |
| 1793–1813 Agric. Surv. Dorset 8 (E.D.S.), *Four-tooth, a two-year-old sheep. |
| 1914 L. Silberstein Theory of Relativity v. 148 The length, thus defined, of a *four-vector may be either real, or purely imaginary, or nil, according as we have..a space⁓like, a time-like, or a singular vector. 1952 E. G. Ramberg tr. Sommerfeld's Electrodynam. iii. 213 The four-vector attains a meaning in the four-dimensional world which is independent of the choice of the coordinate system. 1968 Physics Bull. Nov. 370/2 The four-vector potential of the electromagnetic field. |
| 1905 Daily Chron. 18 Aug. 3/7 A *four-walled prison life. 1908 C. W. Wallace Children Chapel Blackfriars 7 The four-walled coach-court of the public inn. |
| [1834 tr. Jacquemont's Journ. India I. 156, I was much more comfortable under it..than within *four naked walls.] 1849 N. P. Willis Rural Lett. 17 Between five in the morning and ‘flower-shut’ I feel as if four walls and a ceiling would stop my breath. 1922 ‘E. Percy’ (title) If four walls told. 1930 Harrison & Cartwright (title) Within four walls. |
| 1598 Florio, Quadriuio, a *fower-way, a way that hath fower turnings, a place where fower waies meete. 1891 H. Haliburton Ochil Idylls 72 Peasants flock in from the fields to the four-ways. |
| 1824 R. Stuart Hist. Steam Engine 161 A considerable improvement on the *fourway-cock. 1841 S. C. Brees Gloss. Civ. Engin., Four-way Cock..a description of valve..for passing the steam to the cylinder; it was invented by Leopold in about the year 1720. |
| a 1711 Ken Urania Poet. Wks. 1721 IV. 457 She'll strive to soar as high, As *four-wing'd Seraphs fly. c 1755 Garden in Phil. Trans. LI. 931 They are followed by pretty large four-winged fruit. 1878 Bell Gegenbaur's Comp. Anat. 248 In the other four-winged orders. |
| 1889 Century Dict., *Four-wings, a name of the goatsuckers or night-jars of the genera Macrodipteryx and Cosmetornis, in which some of the flight-feathers are so much elongated that the birds seem to have four wings. |