fourscore

American  

[fawr-skawr, fohr-skohr] / ˈfɔrˈskɔr, ˈfoʊrˈskoʊr /

adjective

1. four times twenty; eighty.

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fourscore British  

/ ˌfɔːˈskɔː /

determiner

1. an archaic word for eighty

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Etymology

Origin of fourscore

Middle English word dating back to 1200–50; four, score

Example Sentences

The fourscore felines are shy but ready to be taken in by cat lovers, according to the Riverside County Department of Animal Services.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 11, 2023

In the words of the Psalms, “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow.”

From The Guardian • Aug. 13, 2017

The kings and common folk, courtiers and soldiers in these productions add up to threescore or fourscore.

From New York Times • Jul. 13, 2015

Toward the end of our play, King Lear explicitly states his age: “I am a very foolish, fond old man, fourscore and upwards, not an hour more or less.”

From New York Times • Jul. 11, 2014

This Minister died17 lately, having lived to the Age of fourscore.

From The Memoirs of Charles-Lewis, Baron de Pollnitz, Volume I Being the Observations He Made in His Late Travels from Prussia thro' Germany, Italy, France, Flanders, Holland, England, &C. in Letters to His Friend. Discovering Not Only the Present State of the Chief Cities and Towns; but the Characters of the Principal Persons at the Several Courts. by P?llnitz, Karl Ludwig von