four

UK: /ˈfɔː^r/ US: /fɔr/ ,(fôr, fōr)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

four /fɔr/   n. [countable]

1. a cardinal number, three plus one.
2. a symbol for this number, as 4 or IV.

adj. [before a noun]

3. amounting to four in number.

Idioms

4. on all fours, on one's hands and knees.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

four  (fôr, fōr), n. 

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. Games a playing card, die face, or half of a domino face with four pips.
5. Music, Music and Dance fours, [Jazz.] alternate four-bar passages, as played in sequence by different soloists:
   with guitar and piano trading fours.
6. [Auto.]
   • an automobile powered by a four-cylinder engine.
   • the engine itself.
7. Idioms on all fours. See all fours (def. 3).

adj. 

8. amounting to four in number.

• bef. 1000; Middle English four, fower, Old English fēower; cognate with Old High German fior (German vier), Gothic fidwor; akin to Latin quattuor, Greek tésseres (Attic téttares)

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

four / fɔː/ noun

1. the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
2. a numeral, 4, IV, etc, representing this number
3. something representing, represented by, or consisting of four units, such as a playing card with four symbols on it
4. Also called: four o'clock four hours after noon or midnight
5. a shot that crosses the boundary after hitting the ground
6. the four runs scored for such a shot
7. a racing shell propelled by four oarsmen pulling one oar each, with or without a cox
8. the crew of such a shell

determiner

1. amounting to four: four thousand eggs, four times
2. (as pronoun): four are ready

Etymology: Old English fēower; related to Old Frisian fiūwer, Old Norse fjōrir, Old High German fior, Latin quattuor, Greek tessares, Sanskrit catur