“For” or “Fore” or “Four”

for / fore / four are similar-sounding terms with different meanings (referred to as homophones). To better understand the differences, see below for definitions, pronunciation guides, and example sentences using each term.

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Definitions

What each term means

Same sound, different spellings and meanings, shown with a pronunciation guide for each term.

for f·AO·r

No dictionary entry for this spelling — see the usage examples below for how it shows up in writing.

fore f·AO·r

adjectivesituated at or toward the bow of a vessel.
adverbnear or toward the bow of a ship or cockpit of a plane.

four f·AO·r

nounthe cardinal number that is the sum of three and one.
adjectivebeing one more than three.

Usage

Examples in context

Real sentences for each spelling. Hover an example to copy it.

“for”

…1990, it had a tall for the entrance and exit for…
…hit .200 in 36 games for Boston in 1948, his last…
…Florida Cabinet to grant land for the expansion of the Florida…
For his heroic action, Jones was…
…had been banned from baseball for life 10 years earlier.
…discharge, Jones returned to play for Chicago in 1946.
…the Department of Veterans Affairs for the cemetery's expansion.
…games in the American League for Chicago, in part of two…
…Baseball who played between and for the Chicago White Sox (1941–42,…
…occasion was an inappropriate setting for Gray's persistence.

“fore”

The Bedstraw Hawk-Moth - Fore wings olive brown, with a…
Fore Play, 1975 comedy film
…are connected by two stairways, fore and aft, wide enough to…
…belt, together with armoured bulkheads fore and aft and the armoured…
…guns, in two quadruple turrets fore and aft and a single…
…turrets: two superfiring turret pairs fore and aft of the superstructure.
Engine Type: Fore and Aft
…Type 89 single gun turrets (fore and aft), a total of…
…in her port gunwale just fore of the wheelhouse.
…was closed by transverse bulkheads fore and aft.

“four”

…January 8, 2004, more than four years later, Rose admitted publicly…
…two Distinguished Flying Cross and four Air Medals.
Four of these, Tysabri (Biogen Idec/Elan),…
…or region name), First at Four, Live at Five, Eleven @…
Amongst news channels, all four major U.S. cable news networks:…
…for cash the firm sold four of its five seats on…
…during a congress made by four workers centrals.
…represented Surrey County playing in four consecutive London Badminton doubles finals…
…broadcast newscasts between two and four times a day: usually at…
…multiple titles in a season four times, including six titles in…

Examples are Wikipedia snippets under the CC ShareAlike 3.0 license. Definitions are drawn from WordNet.

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