four by two
four by two noun: a length of sawn wood of cross section 4 inches by 2 inches, most often employed as structural framing lumber / timber.
Noun
four by two (plural four by twos)
- A length of sawn wood of cross section 4 inches by 2 inches, most often employed as structural framing lumber / timber.
- She would sit here sometimes, perched on a bag of concrete looking at the big lumps of four by two and imagining what she might do with them if she had a chance.1994, Peter Carey, Collected Stories, page 206
- He eyed Norman, who was lifting one end of a four-by-two and sighting down it, as his Bendigo uncle had taught him to sight new beams, seeking out the bow.2009, Joy Dettman, Pearl in a Cage, page 110
- Synonyms:
- two by four
- A cotton cloth 4 inches wide with lines two inches apart, conveniently torn into two inch lengths for cleaning a rifle barrel using a pull through.
- A Jew.
Synonyms of four by two
Forms of four by two
| plural | four by twos |
|---|---|
| alternative form | four-by-two |
Questions about four by two
- What does four by two mean?
- Four by two means a length of sawn wood of cross section 4 inches by 2 inches, most often employed as structural framing lumber / timber.
- What part of speech is four by two?
- Four by two is a noun.
- What is the plural of four by two?
- The plural of four by two is four by twos.
Words near four by two in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: four by two (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: EN-AU ck1 four by two.ogg.
Cite this entry: “four by two.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/four_by_two. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.