英和和英

発音

副詞

on all fours (not comparable)

1. (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.

2. (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.

関連する語

• all fours