Word.ws English Dictionary

Fourth of July

Syllables: Fourth of Ju·lyUK/ˌfɔːθ‿əv d͡ʒʊˈlaɪ//ˌfɔɹθ‿əv d͡ʒəˈlaɪ/

Fourth of July proper noun: the national holiday of Independence Day in the United States, celebrated (commonly with fireworks) on the fourth day in July to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776.

Proper noun

the Fourth of July (plural Fourth of Julys)

  1. The national holiday of Independence Day in the United States, celebrated (commonly with fireworks) on the fourth day in July to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776.
    • And the Ohio State Journal reports that “it was the hottest, quietest, and safest Fourth of July that Columbus ever had. The firecracker, the gun, and the cannon did not appear, and so there was not an injured or mangled boy or dead body anywhere yesterday as a result of powder patriotism. What a...1911 July 16, “A Saner Fourth”, in The Chicago Sunday Tribune, volume LXX, number 29, Chicago, Ill.: The Tribune Company, Metropolitan Section, page 4, column 3
    • MARY went in to the frail little mother and told her the news through the cotton wool in both ears. Mrs. Davis had no difficulty hearing, so beautifully penetrating is good news. The relief in her pale little face “choked” Mary. / “My dear! You are an angel, there in that white robe! All you...1921 July 2, Annie Hamilton Donnell, “Do-As-You-Please Day: A Fourth of July Story”, in The Christian Herald […], volume 44, number 27, New York, N.Y.: Graham Patterson, page 469, column 1
  2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see Fourth, of, July.
    • The brightest supernova in your Milky Way galaxy to be visible from Earth was seen and recorded by the Chinese during the Song Dynasty on the 4th of July in A.D. 1054.2025, Neil deGrasse Tyson, “Stars, Near & Far”, in Just Visiting This Planet, Revised and Updated for the Twenty-First Century (Science / Astronomy), Blackstone Publishing, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 90

Noun

Fourth of July

  1. (US) A cocktail containing one part grenadine syrup, one part vodka, and one part blue curaçao, reminiscent of the red, white, and blue colors of the United States flag, often poured in layers so that the colors do not mix when the drink is served.

Examples of Fourth of July in a sentence

  • And the Ohio State Journal reports that “it was the hottest, quietest, and safest Fourth of July that Columbus ever had.1911 July 16, “A Saner Fourth”, in The Chicago Sunday Tribune, volume LXX, number 29, Chicago, Ill.: The Tribune Company, Metropolitan...
  • If you knew—if anybody but me could know the tortures Fourth of Julys are to me.[…]”1921 July 2, Annie Hamilton Donnell, “Do-As-You-Please Day: A Fourth of July Story”, in The Christian Herald […], volume 44, number 27, New...
  • Our Fourth of Julys are sounding different, too.2005, Martha Bolton, “Season’s Greetings”, in Growing Your Own Turtleneck… and Other Benefits of Aging, Bloomington, Minn.: Bethany House...

Synonyms of Fourth of July

Forms of Fourth of July

pluralFourth of Julys
alternative form4th of July

Origin of Fourth of July

The proper noun comes from an ellipsis of the fourth day of July. The common noun is derived from the proper noun.

Words formed from Fourth of July

Words that rhyme with Fourth of July

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about Fourth of July

What does Fourth of July mean?
Fourth of July means the national holiday of Independence Day in the United States, celebrated (commonly with fireworks) on the fourth day in July to mark the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence from Great Britain in 1776.
How do you use Fourth of July in a sentence?
And the Ohio State Journal reports that “it was the hottest, quietest, and safest Fourth of July that Columbus ever had.
What part of speech is Fourth of July?
Fourth of July can be a proper noun or a noun.
How do you pronounce Fourth of July?
Fourth of July is pronounced /ˌfɔɹθ‿əv d͡ʒəˈlaɪ/ (US).

Words near Fourth of July in the dictionary

  1. Fourth Industrial Revolution
  2. fourth market
  3. fourth markets
  4. Fourth Month
  5. fourth normal form
  6. Fourth of July
  7. Fourth of Julys
  8. fourth official
  9. fourth officials
  10. fourth part
  11. fourth person

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Fourth of July (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Fourth of July.wav.

Cite this entry: “Fourth of July.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/fourth_of_july. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.