on all fours
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See also: on all-fours
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Adverb[edit]
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 17926498:
- The paternal longing ran on all fours with her own desire.
- 1920, Rudyard Kipling, Letters of Travel, ch. 21:
- The new law was precisely on all-fours with the Homestead Act.
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
on hands and knees
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