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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

four score and ten en · NOUN

Etymology

From the Bible, in which King David is supposed to have lived three score and ten (70) years.

Meanings

  1. A human lifespan.
    • I have completed my four-score-and-ten, but physical age seems to be less important than life insurance statistics would indicate. 2014, Ernest Dichter, Getting Motivated, page ix:
    • when I was in the Army there were some guys who said they'd rather die in combat— go down fighting— than live out their four score and ten. 2019, Kate Atkinson, Big Sky, →ISBN, page 300:
    • Our four score and ten are a mere twelve or thirteen years to a dog. 2010, Jay Cassell, The Best Hunting Stories Ever Told, page 540:
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see four, score, ten. 90.