Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A team of four horses controlled by one driver.
- noun A vehicle drawn by four horses.
- noun A necktie tied in a slipknot with long ends left hanging one in front of the other.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A long scarf or necktie. One of the ends (which are broader than the center which surrounds the neck) is wound over the other, passed up between the neck and the tie, and then brought down in front through the loop thus formed.
- noun A vehicle drawn by four horses driven by one person.
- noun A team of four horses attached to a single vehicle, or matched for the purpose of being driven in this way.
- Drawn by four horses driven by one person: as, a four-in-hand coach.
- Having to do with a four-in-hand: as, a good four-in-hand driver.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A long necktie that is tied in a slipknot with one end hanging in front of the other.
- noun a coach pulled by four horses with one driver.
- adjective Consisting of four horses controlled by one person; ; drawn by four horses driven by one person.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
carriage drawn by four horses controlled by onedriver ; a coach-and-four. - noun A
slipknot with one end hanging in front of the other; a simplenecktie .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a long necktie that is tied in a slipknot with one end hanging in front of the other
- noun a carriage pulled by four horses with one driver
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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And as long as I rely on pebbles, I cannot truthfully speak of myself as "tooling a four-in-hand."
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“That's for sure,” said Duane Wade as he put the finishing touches on a four-in-hand knot in a British rep tie.
Nothing But Neat at the NBA All-Star Game Con Chapman 2011
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Nonetheless, the bride and groom took leave of their families and guests, and were conducted (in England) in a four-in-hand to their destination, and in the United States, to the train station.
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The four-in-hand matched his wife's red dress -- a sheath, of course.
Fashion: Robin Givhan on candidates' and their families' election-night apparel Robin Givhan 2010
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Though waistcoats for women with distinctly masculine connotations appeared in 1846, the tailor-made of the 1880s and 1890s, coupled with a four-in-hand tie, a shirtwaist, and a boater or another masculine hat style, was a strong statement for independence.
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COLUMBUS, OHIO -- "The truth is that I can't tie a four-in-hand."
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I even performed as part of the Purdue University Musical Organizations Handbell choir, and got pretty good at the four-in-hand technique.
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I even performed as part of the Purdue University Musical Organizations Handbell choir, and got pretty good at the four-in-hand technique.
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She was an accomplished horsewoman, drove a four-in-hand, was proud of her life-saving certificates and amused at the memory of her skill at walking up and down stairs on stilts.
Rothschild Women. 2009
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-- The way he hasn't learned to tie a four-in-hand necktie like the men do.
chained_bear commented on the word four-in-hand
"...her driving the new green four-in-hand with only one servant up behind."
--O'Brian, The Truelove, 69
March 10, 2008
reesetee commented on the word four-in-hand
A carriage drawn by a team of four horses having the reins rigged so that it can be driven by a single driver. The stagecoach and the tally-ho are usually four-in-hand coaches.
October 22, 2008
dontcry commented on the word four-in-hand
*Can't help wondering about four-in-hand vs bird-in-hand and the whole number of bushes thing...*
October 22, 2008