Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several plants of the genus Mirabilis, especially M. jalapa, native to tropical America and widely cultivated for its trumpet-shaped, variously colored flowers that open late in the afternoon.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The Australian friar-bird or leatherhead, Tropidorhynchus corniculatus: so called from its cry, which is fancied to sound like
four o'clock . See cut underfriar-bird . - noun The marvel-of-Peru, Mirabilis jalapa: so called form the fact that its flowers open in the afternoon.
- noun Same as
fourings .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Bot.) A plant of the genus Mirabilis. There are about half a dozen species, natives of the warmer parts of America. The common
four-o'clock isM. Jalapa . Its flowers are white, yellow, and red, and open toward sunset, or earlier in cloudy weather; hence the name. It is also calledmarvel of Peru , andafternoon lady . - noun (Zoöl.) The friar bird; -- so called from its cry, which resembles these words.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of several
plants , of the genus Mirabilis, whose funnel-shaped flowers open in lateafternoon - noun The
friarbird ; so called from its cry, which resembles these words.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of several plants of the genus Mirabilis having flowers that open in late afternoon
Etymologies
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Examples
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The administration always saved bad news for the four-o'clock mail drop-off on Fridays.
One Of The Family Floyd, Susan 2000
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After a day of second thoughts, and three conversations with her friend Audrey Payne in Utah, Blythe parked her Taurus in the agreed-upon location an hour before the four-o'clock rendezvous and hid in a carefully selected spot in some woods above the picnic area.
Higher Authority White, Stephen, 1951- 1994
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She read a lot, mainly plays and novels, and tended her favorite flowers, garden balsam, hibiscus, common four-o'clock, and roses of Sharon in pots in the courtyard, where she also cultivated dwarf trees.
WILD SWANS THREE DAUGHTERS OF CHINA CHANG, JUNG 1991
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Her husband would free for an hour or so after lunch but had a four-o'clock ointment he would have to keep.
Triple Jeopardy Stout, Rex, 1886-1975 1951
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Her husband would free for an hour or so after lunch but had a four-o'clock ointment he would have to keep.
Triple Jeopardy Stout, Rex, 1886-1975 1951
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"We shall just catch the four-o'clock train very comfortably if we go now," Godfrey replied.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Volume 22. July, 1878. Various
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Her and the judge got in with the two children down in front, and they drove off to catch the four-o'clock train.
Aunt Jane of Kentucky Eliza Calvert Hall
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Soon I heard "Mumma," and then followed an invitation to four-o'clock tea that day, and as I was going, "Puppa must come too" was called out.
Three Years in Tristan da Cunha Katherine Mary Barrow
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He explained to Sheila the absolute necessity of his having to tell that fib about the four-o'clock engagement; and when she heard described the drive in the closed brougham which she had escaped, perhaps she was not so greatly inclined as she ought to have been to protest against that piece of wickedness.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 28, July, 1873 Various
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Even his unprotected boyhood had been shielded from four-o'clock journeys in the wintry woods heretofore.
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