on all fours
Adjective
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Adjective
on all fours (not comparable)
- (idiomatic) On one's hands and knees.
- 1916, Elbert Hubbard, Little Journeys Vol. 14: Great Musicians, "Johannes Brahms":
- He was on all fours, with three children on his back, riding him for a horse.
- 1916, Elbert Hubbard, Little Journeys Vol. 14: Great Musicians, "Johannes Brahms":
- (idiomatic, often followed by "with") Similar in nature or effect to something else; consistent.
- 1920, Rudyard Kipling, Letters of Travel, ch. 21:
- The new law was precisely on all-fours with the Homestead Act.
- 1920, Rudyard Kipling, Letters of Travel, ch. 21:
on all fours (not comparable)
- (idiomatic) On one's hands and knees.
- 1897, Joseph Conrad, The Nigger Of The ‘Narcissus’, ch. 3:
- A bulky form was seen rising aft, and began marching on all fours with the movements of some big cautious beast.
- 1897, Joseph Conrad, The Nigger Of The ‘Narcissus’, ch. 3:
- (idiomatic, often followed by "with") In a manner which is similar in nature or effect to something else; consistently.
- 1887, Thomas Hardy, The Woodlanders, ch. 39:
- The paternal longing ran on all fours with her own desire.
- 1887, Thomas Hardy, The Woodlanders, ch. 39:
- French: à quatre pattes
- German: auf allen vieren
- Italian: carponi, a quattro piedi, gattoni, a quattro zampe
- Portuguese: de quatro
- Russian: четвереньки
- Spanish: a cuatro patas, a veinte uñas (vulgar, referring to sex position)
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.003