Dictionary

on all fours en · X

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) On one's hands and knees.
   • He was on all fours, with three children on his back, riding him for a horse. 1916, Elbert Hubbard, “Johannes Brahms”, in Little Journeys Vol. 14: Great Musicians:
   • A bulky form was seen rising aft, and began marching on all fours with the movements of some big cautious beast. 1897, Joseph Conrad, chapter 3, in The Nigger Of The ‘Narcissus’:
   • Here and there the way is so steep and slippery that I can only advance on all fours. 1989 May, Uwe George, “Venezuela's Islands in Time”, in National Geographic, volume 175, number 5, page 534:
2. (followed by "with", idiomatic, often) In a manner which is similar in nature or effect to something else; consistent.
   • The paternal longing ran on all fours with her own desire. 1886 May – 1887 April, Thomas Hardy, chapter 39, in The Woodlanders […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London; New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
   • The new law was precisely on all-fours with the Homestead Act. 1920, Rudyard Kipling, chapter 21, in Letters of Travel:
   • While he brought the ink to the bedside, I read the form and found it on all fours with what he had said. 1919, Jefferson Carter (aka Stanley John Weyman), “V The Swamp Fox”, in Madam Constantia:

Forms

Relateds

quadrupedal · quadrupedally · all fours

Translations (40)

sh четверо̀ношке̄ (on hands and knees) · es en cuatro (on hands and knees) · fi kontallaan (on hands and knees) · ru на кара́чках (on hands and knees) · ru на четвере́ньках (on hands and knees) · ro în patru labe (on hands and knees) · it carponi (on hands and knees) · sv på alla fyra (on hands and knees) · ca de quatre grapes (on hands and knees) · it gattoni (on hands and knees) · de auf allen vieren (on hands and knees) · pl raczkiem (on hands and knees) · et neljakäpakil (on hands and knees) · ja 四つん這いで (on hands and knees) · nn på alle fire (on hands and knees) · fr à quatre pattes (on hands and knees) · es a cuatro patas (on hands and knees) · mi pekewhā (on hands and knees) · it a quattro piedi (on hands and knees) · fi nelinkontin (on hands and knees) · is á fjórum fótum (on hands and knees) · ca a quatre grapes (on hands and knees) · pl na bałyku (on hands and knees) · eu lau hankan (on hands and knees) · pl na czworakach (on hands and knees) · ja 四つんばいで (on hands and knees) · sh četverònoškē (on hands and knees) · hu négykézláb (on hands and knees) · el στα τέσσερα (on hands and knees) · eo kvargambe (on hands and knees) · it a quattro zampe (on hands and knees) · es a veinte uñas (on hands and knees) · uk ра́ка (on hands and knees) · uk ра́чки (on hands and knees) · cmn 四肢着地 (on hands and knees) · uk ра́ком (on hands and knees) · la quadrupēs (on hands and knees) · nb på alle fire (on hands and knees) · pt de quatro (on hands and knees) · cmn 四肢著地 (on hands and knees)