on all fours

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See also: on all-fours

English

Alternative forms

Pronunciation

Adverbial phrase

on all fours (not comparable)

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

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